


BRUINS (1)

by PRAZAN



Category: USWNT - Fandom, Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: Canon Gay Relationship, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, Fear, Gay, Gay Panic, Girl Power, Multi, Murder, National Women's Soccer League, Plot Twists, Sacrifices, Sex, Suspense, Tags Are Hard, US Women's Soccer National Team, Ultimatums, Unconventional Relationship, vengeance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-14
Updated: 2019-09-20
Packaged: 2020-10-18 09:07:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 27,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20636633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PRAZAN/pseuds/PRAZAN
Summary: It might be the most dangerous trilogy of Women's Soccer yet (1/3)





	1. Unknown Territory

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: This book contains violence, deaths, and unconventional ships.

"Mom, I said it's fine ! I am a grown up now ! Besides, I am with Jane and Rose ! Nothing can go wrong !"

Christina - who usually goes by the name of Gibby - hugs her mother a final time, before rolling her eyes and join her two childhood friends. 

Out of the three girls, Gibby has always been the calm one. Rose would run everywhere any time she crosses a dog's path, becoming very excited and lose track on what she really is doing. As far as Jane is concerned, she has always been out of this world : always lost in her thoughts, sometimes going crazy after stupid stuffs. Gibby loves to say Jane was made to be a keeper : keepers are their own species. 

The three friends finally find their dorm, around 45 minutes later. It is located just in front of the library, miles away from the entrance. They were glad to have found a room together, so that they wouldn't be separated despite the different paths they have taken. Gibby, who always has been an English literature fan, easily chose her classes. The same couldn't be said about Rose and Jane, who both had a hard time figuring out what thy would do. After months of stressing thinking, Jane finally went with mathematics and physics, while Rose chose to study Sports Management and economy. 

When they finally find the door number 67, they realize the door is wide open. Jane being the boldest one, she goes in first, only to find a brunette lying down on her bed. When that girl realizes her new roommates have finally arrived, she smirks and gets up on her feet. 

She gives her hand for Jane to shake. 

"Yo, I'm Steph, but you can call me McCaff or Decaff." the brunette energetically says, holding a smile back. 

The three girls, after saying their names, start settling, under the inciting look of Steph. Indeed, the girl likes to get to know people before actually become friends with them. Gibby notices that, and once she's done with her own stuff - she never was the kind of girl to bring her whole like with her. Only few clothes were enough - she faces the girl. 

Something then pops into her mind. 

"Hey, are you McCaffrey ? Forward for the Bruins ?" she suddenly asks, surprised. 

Jane and Rose also turn around, as Steph smirks. 

"Yah. But I prefer to be called-"

"We got it, Decaff" Rose says, rolling her eyes. "So, I guess we are an all-soccer players room then." 

Steph's eyes go wide, as she then smirks. 

"Yah, I knew that. Thanks dude."

"Do you know where the captain lives ?" Jane carefully asks, serious. She then takes a paper out of her bag and shows it to Steph. "It says we need to register to her before the first training, which takes place tomorrow."

The forward takes a look at the paper, and rolls her eyes. "I will take you guys here. Just hold on for a sec."

With that said, she grabs her phone and calls someone. As soon as the person picks up, Steph says : 

"Yo Kratchet, I need you to handle some rookies." 

As the voice on the other side of the phone doesn't look that happy, Gibby exchanges a quick look with Rose : they both know that the reputation of the girls from the soccer team is. They are said to be a very closed group, not liking newbies, even though they have some every year. 

When Steph hangs off the phone, she doesn't look happy. 

"Never mind, I'll come with you." she says, shaking her head. "We better hurry tho, she soon has a conference or some shit."

"O-okay." Jane says, surprised. 

They leave the room, closing it behind them. 

* 

When someone knocks on the door, Becky groans : it's only 9 am, for fucks sake. She was supposed to get some sleep today. 

"I think that's for you, babe" a voice says next to the defender. 

Becky rolls her eyes and climbs on top of her boyfriend, kicking him in the process. Zola only rolls his eyes, before Becky says : 

"Visitors mean you're out"

The quaterback is used to this cold tone : he knows very well that his girlfriend has lost interest in him, and that it's only a matter of time before she leaves him. But for now, he just fucks her, and she enjoys it. That's it. But he knows very well that she has someone else in mind, someone she can't have. 

Actually not even from that university. He knows that because Becky has never been so caught up ever since the season ended. 

"See you tonight at the party" Zola says, before opening the door. 

When he finds himself face to face with four young girl, with no t-shirt on, he rolls his eyes and walks past them after coldly greeting Steph, who he doesn't like that much. The forward smirks, before going in. 

Becky sets her jaw. 

"You better have a good reason to come here, McCaffrey" she warns the younger girl, before giving her their usual handshake. 

Steph is not impressed. 

"I brought three newbies. I'm out now" she rapidly says, before exiting the room. While doing so, she pushes Jane and Rose inside, while Gibby gives her a reproaching look. The forward only smirks, before saying : "Oh, come on, don't give me that look : you're a grown-up now. Broon doesn't bite. See ya losers !"

With that said, she leaves the room. 

When Gibby turns around, she sees Becky is not quite a joker. The girl looks tough, but not mean though. Just, really serious. In other words, the perfect captain. When she takes a look at the files Jane handed her, the older girl looks serious. 

"Christina ?"

Gibby immediately takes a step forward. When Becky looks at her, she immediately realizes she's not in trouble. 

"That's gotta be me. But my friends call me Gibby."

"Good think I am not your friend." Becky harshly says, and the young defender looks like she's dying in the inside. From the corner of her eye, she can see Jane and Rose burst into laughter, before listening to what her new captain has to say. "... Yet. I kinda like you. I raise people like you." 

"Uhm, o-okay" Gibby stammers, confused. 

"So, you girls are all cleared : just show up at training on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and everything will be alright. Coach Jill doesn't like late people, and her assistant Dawn doesn't like lazy people. Also, the girls are throwing a party tonight, you better show up if you wanna do a good impression. Just ask McCaffrey where Ash's dorm is. Now, get out of my dorm."

"T-thanks" Jane says. 

Few seconds afterwards, they are outside of a close door, looking at each other with confusion. Rose is the one breaking the silence : 

"Well, that went pretty well."

"Shut up" both Rose and Gibby order in the same time.


	2. Basic Social Psychology

Steph takes a few short turns, before actually leading her three roommates to the right place. Indeed, the dorm is radiating with good energy, as a little music can be heard.

"This is the Seniors' and Junior's dorm, as you can tell they're queens of the world and nobody kill their vibes" the forward quickly says, before knocking on the door number 44. 

The door opens, and a short-haired girl appears. She looks quite mean at first, but as soon as she sees Steph, she brotherly hugs her, before staring at the three girls. When she sees Jane, she immediately smiles. 

"So, you're the new keeper uhn ?" she asks in a chill voice, smirking. When Jane nods, she wraps an arm around her shoulders. "Welcome to the GK Union, young girl. Let me introduce you our third member."

After she drags Jane inside - totally ignoring Rose and Gibby, who exchange a nervous look - Steph turns around and faces her new friends. 

"Don't mind Ash, she can be pretty... keeper-centered. Come in."

As they follow Steph, the two newbies feel the atmosphere tensing up, as silence becomes king in the room. All eyes are on them, and Gibby doesn't like that. 

First thing she sees is that the whole team isn't here. There are like only 10 people with them in it, which means 6 strangers, including Ashlyn. Which means they have 5 names to learn. The first person Gibby sees is a serious brunette standing in between Jane and Ash, which means she probably is the third keeper of the GK Union. Then, a blonde and a short-haired with a bun draws her attention. The two remaining girls seem way less friendly - a blonde and a brunette, both wearing matching pullovers of their team. 

Gibby, who isn't really good with knowing people, gives Rose a bow in the ribs. When she crosses Jane's eyes, she sees the keeper smirk : of course it's easy when someone take you under their wing, Gibby thinks to herself, bitter. 

Lucky enough, Rose doesn't have that much problems with people and is pretty outgoing and funny. 

"Hey" she says in a confident voice. 

There is a small silence, before the short-haired with a bun gets on her feet and smiles. 

"Yo ! Welcome to the team girls !" she almost yells, a cigarette in hands. When she comes closer to the two newbies, they realize how short she is. "Congrats, you passed the Kling test ! It consisted in saying hi in an hostile atmosphere... Amazing what social psychology can do, right ?"

Gibby silently nods, as Rose says : 

"Right."

"So, I'm Meghan, but everyone call me Kling." the short girl says in a friendly tone. That's probably the most friendly tone Gibby has ever heard in her life. After briefly hugging both newbies, Kling turns around and points at the blonde sitting next to her on the coach : "This is my pal Julie - or JJ because why not - and then there's keeper Kelsey Wys-"

"You better not worry about her, she's too chill to care about you guys for now" Ash lets out, before giving the goalie a high five. 

Kling rolls her eyes. 

"You'll get used to it" she says, gently grabbing Gibby's arm. She then looks at the two 'mean girls' sitting on the corner, and says : "Those two are Harry, but individually they're Tobin and Allie. Funny how people change when they're apart of a group..."

"Social psychology, we got it Kling" Julie says, which provokes a few laughs among the girls, including Rose's. 

After the awkward moment has passed, the girls are told to sit down. Then, they learnt that this only was the beginning, because Ash is throwing a big party to mark the beginning of the semester in the garden, that includes a pool and a big bar/dance floor. 

In other words : they are going to get wasted.

*

When Steph told them Ash is one of the most popular girl in the whole campus, she wasn't lying : there at least are 300 people in the garden, and 300 others all around. The music is playing real loud, and people are dancing. 

After a few moments dancing, Gibby grabs a drink and joins Julie, who is sitting at the bar with some guy. She silently sits down next to her, not knowing if she really was wanted here or not. But after a few seconds, Julie tells something to the guy, and he walks away. The blonde then smiles to the rookie. 

Something about her is really friendly. 

"Are you having a good time ?" she kindly asks Gibby, smiling. 

The defender nods. "Yah, it's different from the little parties we used to throw at my garage back in the high school days, but it's cool to be honest." she says, while looking around her, spotting some of her teammates. She then frowns. "Tell me, are people always that cold ? Not that I am criticizing, but..."

"I get what you mean" Julie says, smiling. 

"You do ?"

"Yes, one year ago, I was you." the blonde says, smirking. "It was not easy in the beginning, but the girls here are going to change your life. Give it a try."

"I will" Gibby swears, trying to find a new subject of conversation. "That guy that was with you before I came here, is he your boyfriend ?"

Julie slightly blushes, when she says : 

"Yes. It's Zach. We've been together for like four years."

"Damn !" Gibby explains, slightly surprised. "That's a pretty damn long time !"

"He really is the one for me" the blonde confirms. 

Then, her eyes are caught by something on the dance floor, and Gibby naturally looks the same way. 

Steph is here, pushing some dude away from a blonde girl, who is trying to stop her from knocking him down. When the guy finally steps back - not because of the forward, but because both Ash and Kelsey have stepped up for her - Steph turns around and looks straight at the girl in front of her. After the two goalies judge there is no trouble anymore, they join the rest of their friends, and Steph remains alone with the girl. 

They start arguing about something, before the blonde walks away. Steph just rolls her eyes, before literally running after her. Gibby, who finds it amazing that someone could actually date someone while being so grumpy, looks at Julie, confused. 

That causes the defender to laugh. 

"That's Abby Dahlkemper. Steph's girlfriend." she quickly sums up, before smirking. "They're conflicted, but very cute. Everybody say they're the team's couple." 

As the conversation between Gibby and Julie slips on their teammates, Steph is still running after Abby. 

When she finally gets to her, she grabs her arm and pulls her on a corner of the party, behind trees, so that they could just talk the two of them. Abby looks like she is mad, and Steph know very well that she is at fault here. 

But she still says : 

"What ?"

Abby rolls her eyes, taking her arm back. 

"That guy was just asking me if I had seen his boyfriend, Stephanie ! There is nothing to be jealous of, for God's sake !" the defender exclaims, tired of her girlfriend's jealousy. 

But something in Steph's eyes make her relax when the forward takes her hands with her own, a shy smile on. 

"I apologize. I just don't like it when people are looking at my woman" the brunette says, insisting on the last word. She then takes a step closer, and the lack of height difference between the two allows her to make their noses touch. "I'm sorry, I'll try and stop being jealous, I swear."

"We both know you're lying right now" Abby says, somehow holding a smile back. 

The forward wraps an arm around her girlfriend's waist, before pulling her even closer. Right before she can kiss her, she looks at the defender and says : 

"I hate how jealous I am because of you baby"

With that said, Steph crashes her lips on Abby's, who doesn't even think of pushing her away. She know how the girl is : she is conflicted, because before Abby, she used to date girls for two weeks, have sex with them, and then leave them. But with the blonde, she's found a safe place, someone to truly love and who truly loves her, even though both girls are never saying it out loud. More surprisingly is that Kristie, Steph's best friend, actually likes Abby. 

For two years they haven't been able to leave each other. 

As they're kissing slowly under the lights, someone taps behind Steph's head. The forward is about to flip a table, but when she realizes it's only Kristie, followed by Lindsey and an unknown person, she relaxes. 

"Yo lovebirds, meet Mal, our newest team member" Kristie quickly says. She then raises an eyebrow. "Have you seen Janine ? I need to ask her something about our psychology class"

Steph rolls her eyes. "Nope."

"Thanks Hoodrat, appreciate your help" the blonde sarcastically says, before looking at Abby. "You good ?"

"Yah, what about you ?" 

"I'm fine. I mean, I believe so. I need to find that freaking Canadian, so you guys just don't make too much noise please. See ya !"

With that said, she takes Lindsey and Mal with her, as Steph immediately kisses Abby again. This party will end badly, she knows it. But not for her.


	3. Old Ennemies

Ash tenses up. 

"What the fuck do they think they're doing" she mutters under her breath, angry. 

Kelley and Allie only have the time to turn around that the keeper is already walking toward the two newcomers. Their faces are known around here : they are part of the Stanford team, aka the Bruins' biggest rivals and enemies. 

In other words, the whole team hate those two. Alex Morgan, the star forward of the Stanford team, has brought her mean face with her, along with Shelina Zadorsky, the best defender they have. Kelley will always remember the day Zadorsky broke her ankle. That kept her away from the rest of the tournament last year. 

As the three teammates arrive right in front of them, Shelina's face grows worried, while Alex is just smirking. 

"Well well well" the forward starts in a moody tone. "Look who's there with their two dogs."

Ash angrily hits the glass Alex has got in her hands, which causes it to fall on the ground. Alex raises her eyebrows. 

"You have no right in being there" the goalie coldly says. "So it's in your best interest to just get the hell away from here before the whole team knows you're here." 

People have indeed noticed the two girls' presence. Kelsey is the first one to arrive, quickly followed by Tobin and Becky, who doesn't look that great in the moment. When she sees the two Stanford girls, she just feels sick. 

Alex raises her eyebrows once again, with a defying look. 

"We will go, don't worry" she says in a despising tone, already getting on everyone's nerves. Shelina, on the other hand, just remains silent, her eyes locked on Becky from time to time. But the forward isn't done. "We are just here to warn you : this year we are going to kick your asses."

"How so ?" Allie asks, smirking. 

Saying those two have quite an history would be an understatement : Alex was a freshman in UCLA three years ago, and was Allie's roommate. The two girls had become best friends, until Alex decided to betray her by sleeping with her boyfriend, before joining Stanford for the second year. 

Shelina doesn't look comfortable. 

"Alex, we should-" she starts in a serious voice. 

But Alex doesn't listen to her. She only throws a despising look at Allie, who almost wants to punch her in the face. 

"I guess you will soon find out" she smirks, before walking away. 

The Canadian throws an ultimate look at the Bruins - especially at Becky - before walking away with her teammate. As they already are meters away, Ash turns to face Becky, who isn't feeling well at all. 

Kelley frowns. 

"You okay ?" she asks the captain, confused. 

Becky shakes her head. "I probably had too much alcohol. I will get back to my dorm." she quickly says, starting to walk away. 

"Do you want one of us to come with you ?" Allie asks, concerned. 

"No, it's fine. You guys have fun, and keep an eye on the newbies, especially on this Gibby girl. I like her." she orders. 

"To your command, captain." Ash says, smiling. 

As her teammates are far enough, Becky starts walking toward her dorm, that is only few meters away from the party. Only one block away. 

The Bruins captain nonchalantly walks toward the dorm room, greeting some people in the process : the truth is that she's always been damn popular just by the reassuring presence she gives people, not only on the pitch but also on daily basis. She is part of the conference staff, but also the environmental and political groups on the campus. People can be popular for many reasons ; money, fame, talent... Becky is famous for her mind. 

When she makes it to her dorm, she realizes she's not alone : there is a shadow not far from her, slowly taking more and more steps further. Becky stops what she is doing and looks straight at her. 

"Shelina."

The Canadian's face soon is lightened by the lamppost, and she looks terrified. Becky's heart drops a few beats, but she ignores it. The defender's face is closed and her arms are crossed against her chest. 

She then slowly nods. 

"Hello, Rebecca." she says in an empty voice. 

"What the hell are you doing here ?" 

Shelina looks down at her feet for a second. 

"Look, I didn't come here to start a fight. I just wanted to see you." she slowly explains, her blue eyes meeting Becky's. 

The captain thinks for a moment, before rolling her eyes at the girl and opening the door of her dorm. The good thing about being a respected senior is that she has a single room, all by herself. After giving Shelina a small sign, she goes in, followed by the Canadian, who obviously is nervous. 

After Becky put her keys back on the cupboard, she feels pushed against a wall, right after the door has been shut. 

She only has the time to turn around before Shelina's lips crash against hers. Becky being pretty confused, she doesn't immediately kiss back, but her hands somehow find the Canadian's waist, pulling her closer. She has missed her lips, her smell, the way she just shyly stands her and then owns her ground. Shelina, on the other hand, stops overthinking. Her hands softly grab Becky's neck, as her lips are slowly moving on Becky's. After a few seconds, Becky asks for permission, as their tongues are dancing together. 

But after a few seconds, Shelina pulls away, resting her forehead against Becky's. She then closes her eyes, as the captain caresses her lap. Her fingers then put her lock of Shelina's hair behind her ear, before landing on the girl's cheeks. 

Becky has a nostalgia smile on, but Shelina doesn't. 

"I'm sorry, I should go." she whispers, her eyes on Becky's. 

The defender slowly nods. "You should."

"Does he make you happy?" When she sees how confused Becky is, she adds : "Does Zola make you happy?"

"Yes" Becky lies.

"Good."

After that, Shelina walks away, and when she closes the door behind her, Becky lets out a sigh out of relief, before letting her body fall on the bed. She then buries her face in her hands, absolutely overwhelmed.

She shakes her head, thinking : This can't be. 

*

"Good morning ladies ! You might be wondering why I am organizing your first training on a Sunday morning ? Well, let's say I've heard about the wild party some of you have been attending, and wanted to prove you partying won't help you win games. So, before we start, I want to ask our four new recruits to introduce themselves."

The British coach, Jill Ellis, has a smirk on her face. Of course she knows most of the girls were at that party, and that Becky would be one of the only people to be in a good form. Nevertheless, she soon realizes the captain has dark circles under her eyes as well. 

In front of her stand 19 girls : 3 goalies, 6 defenders, 5 midfielders and 5 forwards. All of them haven't met yet, mostly because couple of girls didn't attend the party, including Kristie and Megan, who got home from vacation this very morning. Kristie, who has been a part of that team for two years now, starts looking around her : she forgot about the newbies. The first one she sees is a blonde, who is nervously taking a step further. 

The newbies starts to introduce herself : 

"Yo, I'm Jane Campbell, I come from Kennesaw, Georgia, and I am a keeper."

"That's right girl !" Ash exclaims, and that makes everybody laugh but Jill and Dawn. 

The head coach nods and smiles at Jane, who takes several steps back. Her eyes now are landing on Rose, who introduces herself. But Kristie can't hear any of what she or Mal are saying, because her eyes finally find the fourth newbie, and something in her just makes her think she's so much different. This way of smiling and nodding every time someone says something make her pretty likable. 

When it's her turn to talk, the brunette uses a rather husky and deep voice : 

"Hey, I'm Christina Gibbons, but I go by Gibby and also get called all sorts of variations including: Gib, Giblet, Lil Gib, Gibbs, Gibbo, Tina, Teen, and the list goes on."

She then giggles, as the girls are applauding her. Kristie, on the other hand, just claps once, before turning on Steph, who is staring at Abby, as usual. 

"Do you know that girl ?" Kristie asks, acting as if she doesn't care that much. 

Steph looks at her, before smirking. "Yup, new roommate. She cool, but probably not gay" the forward then says. 

Kristie rolls her eyes, but doesn't answer anything. 

When Jill starts explaining the first exercises - fitness testing, just like every year - Kristie and the other girls pay attention. But once she is done with her own testing, the blonde just sits down on the grass, next to Kelsey and Megan, who are both lost in their thoughts. Kristie wants to ask about a sensitive subject, but just doesn't want to ruin the great ambiance. So she just shuts up and looks at Kelley crushing the beep test. 

Ever since she joined the team, Kristie has totally changed. She has met wonderful people, and now it's not only Steph and Sam anymore. After her sister chose to apply for Stanford instead of UCLA last year, Steph has not returned any of her calls. But Sam remains Kristie's sister, and ever though her team doesn't like her, she loves her baby sister. She knows Stanford is enemy, but her sister isn't. 

After a few minutes, Megan looks at Kristie, who has a sad face on. 

"What are you thinking about ?" the blonde carefully asks, a shy smile on. 

Out of all the girls on the team, Kristie has always had no problem in talking to Megan. That girl only wants her good. Kelsey, who has heard the conversation, looks up at Kristie in total silence, a faceless expression on. 

Kristie smiles. 

"Nothing, I'm just happy to have found my girls again." she says, honest.

She can see Kelsey nodding. 

"Kels, what do you think about your newest member ?" the blonde then asks, smiling. 

"She's chill, honestly." the goalie says. 

Of course she wouldn't have talked more. 

"What about that Gibbons girl ?" Kristie insists. 

Both Kelsey and Megan look at her, as the middy rolls her eyes at them. Don't I have the right to ask ? she thinks to herself, while waiting for her friends to answer. Megan, who hasn't gone to the party as well, looks at Kelsey. 

The goalie sighs. 

"I haven't talked to her much, but Steph and Julie have. Ask them."

Kristie nods. 

"Thanks."

"Anytime dude".

Afterwards, the girls just fall in silence, as they have to focus on the rest of practice. But something in Kristie just makes her take some peaks at Gibby, who is intriguing her more and more.


	4. Stanford is Back

Steph wakes up early today. It's gonna be a first. 

Cuddling by her side is her girlfriend, still asleep. After looking around her to find a watch, Steph realizes it's already 8:30, which means that classes start in less than an hour. After sighing, she starts caressing Abby's back in order to wake her up. She doesn't need to say anything though, because when the blonde realizes what time it is, she jumps out of the bed. Steph, who never has been concerned about getting to classes on time, just watch her while she still can, before clothes are hiding her body. 

After a few minutes, the defender turns around and gives her a reproaching look. 

"Babe, you gotta hurry" she says, rolling her eyes. 

"Mmh" is all Steph says before getting up. 

Let's be clear : she is not getting up to be on time, but only to be able to go with Abby and spend a little more time with her. As her girlfriend is putting some makeup on in the bathroom, Steph checks her phone and immediately smirks : Gibby sent her a text, saying : _yo, __i'm__ lost, __where__ r u steph_ ? That makes the forward smirk, but also lock her screen up : she doesn't want Abby to think she is hurrying for her new roommate. 

Because as much as Steph is jealous, Abby also is, deep inside of her. 

Once Abby is done with her makeup, she walks toward Steph, and before the brunette can open the door, she softly kisses her lips, before winking. 

"Come on" Abby then says, grabbing her girl's hand. 

After closing her apartment's door - Abby lives five minutes away from campus in a loft Steph basically lives in - they start walking. They talked about soccer, the newbies, the team in general.. and after all that, Abby starts wondering something : 

"I don't know if you've been told, but two girls from Stanford came by at Ash's party last night, and basically threatened us." 

Steph frowns. 

"Yeah, Kelsey told me. What do they think they can achieve ?"

"I don't know, they're stupid." Abby says, looking down. 

The forward, who can feel something is saddening her girlfriend, lets go of her hand to wrap her arm around Abby's waist. The blonde sighs, before Steph carefully asks : 

"Babe, what is it ?"

Abby's eyes go darker. She then shakes her head and says : 

"Sometimes I'm just wondering why Sam decided to go there." When she sees Steph's facial expression change, she sets her jaw : she knows how disappointed her girlfriend has been in Samantha Mewis. They were best friends, and now they're just enemies. Abby sighs. "I didn't mean to upset you baby, I'm sorry."

"Samantha is dead to me" Steph coldly says, pulling Abby closer to her. "And she should be to you too." 

"She was my best friend, Stephanie. I'm sorry if I can't just turn the page on her like that. I need to talk to her, just the two of us." the defender insists. 

Of course the forward wouldn't like that idea. Nevertheless, she says : 

"You're a free woman, babe : do whatever you want. But I am never going near her again."

"Thanks for understanding. Love you."

With that said, Abby pecks Steph's lips, before something drawn her attention. 

A lost Gibby suddenly appears in their field of view, and they both realize they already are on campus. When the newest defender spots them, she hesitates on whether she should go to them or run the other way. When Abby makes her a sign to come here, another newbie - Mallory - appears as well. 

"Damn, those newbies are invading us" Steph mutters under her breath. That makes Abby giggle, and the brunette smiles at the two rookies. "Let me guess, you guys are lost ?"

Both girls nod. 

"That's such a rookie thing to do" Abby sarcastically lets out, before asking : "What class are you guys heading ?"

They ended up going together for a while, before splitting right in front of the different buildings. 

*

Ash lets herself fall on her chair, tired. 

Today is the second day of class, but also the first team meeting of the season. Of course the team knows very well what it is going to be about : their game against who knows what team in two weeks, and also Stanford. The goalie exchanges a look with Kelsey, who probably haven't slept that much yesterday, and also with Kealia, who is on the other side of Kelsey. For the first time in ages, the team is all here. 

Everyone. 

When Jill enters the room, followed by Dawn. They both don't look very happy, so a tensed atmosphere settles in the room. The newbies, who don't really understand what it is all about yet, just imitate their older teammates. Even Julie, who usually is smiley and happy, has her face closed. 

Jill takes her computer in her hands, and looks at her players. 

"Two things for today : first thing is that the schedules have been announced. We are playing Virginia in two weeks, on Wednesday. I will chose the 14 players that will play the game given their performances this week on the pitch, so y'all better be good."

Everybody nod.

Ash looks at Kelsey : despite the fact that the two girls always are in competition - Jane won't play this year for sure, or for the reserve team, because she has to adapt to this new style of play - the short-haired can't help but care about the girl she considers as one of her people. When Kelsey looks back at her and nods, they both crack a smile. 

Then, Dawn is taking over the talk, as Jill is preparing something to show the team on the screen. 

"Tonight, we also received the different lineups of the other teams, including Stanford's. And it's bad."

Overall, a lot of faces are closed.

"As you may know, they didn't make the final four last year because of treachery. But this year, they are back and want to defend their title. And they have put the money in it." Jill softly explains, her face becoming pretty tensed. "They have made some off-season acquisitions, and overall we can say they got all the best players from foreign universities."

Few girls are already sighing : of course Stanford's way of doing things has never been about the love of the game. Money and greatness is the only thing that matters. They kicked out some players of the team because they missed one pass. _One_ _freaking__ pass_, Ash thinks to herself, shaking her head. 

From the corner of her eye, she sees Allie and Tobin arguing about something, before focusing back on the British women in front of them. 

Dawn takes a look at a piece of paper and says : 

"Keeper-wise, we can say it's pretty much the same brick wall as it was last year and two years ago : Solo is leading the back-line, and her reserves are not to be underestimated. Kopmeyer is just as good, and their rookie, Sheridan, has some under her sleeve. So when we will play against them, you won't be able to count on an individual mistake or luck."

Ash shakes her head once again, staring at Kelsey. Of course the other keeper is one of the only people that know about what Ash lived. Hope once was her mentor, during the first year in UCLA. But then, Hope stole the team bus with her boyfriend and killed someone with it, and from here it's history. 

Every Senior (Ash, Becky and Kelley) know that story, but nobody else, since they have protected her and hidden the evidence of her being drunk or high. The only way Hope thanked them was by insulting them and turning her back on them. 

After a tensed silence, Dawn says : 

"Their defense has improved. They still have Rampone directing the whole back line, and also Krieger and Averbuch with them. Since Buehler graduated last year, they are now starting Zadorsky, who really has improved."

"We are so fucked" Kelley mutters under her breath. 

Some girls look at her, and the rest just ignore that. Becky, on the other hand, is trying not to react by hearing the Canadian's name. 

Dawn throws a death glare at her player, before continuing : 

"Midfielder : Lloyd, Fishlock, Mewis" she says, and the girls don't dare looking at Kristie, who immediately tenses up. "In addition to that, freshman Andi Sullivan, who also appears to be very good." 

"To sum it up, here is the full roster pictures" Jill announces. 

All eyes are on the screen:

"As you can see underlined in pink, those are the starting positions. Their midfield-" Jill continues.

"Hold on" Becky interrupts her, pointing at the screen. "It's a joke, right ? Fucking Marta ?"

"Wait, the girl from Brazil who's already with the National Team ?" Kealia underlines, freaking out.

As the girls are freaking out, Dawn starts yelling and silence falls again. You can easily read the facial expressions of the girls : despair. 

But the coach continues : 

"And they're about to sign Morgan Brian and Andressa to improve their midfield"

This time, the whole room starts complaining. 

And all Ash is thinking is : _this is going to be a freaking long season_. 


	5. Little Trouble in Paradise

_ Five _ _ days _ _ later _

After class, Kealia got back to her dorm, a smile on her lips : ever since the former seniors have graduated, she knew she finally would be in a starting position. She knew she couldn't be compared to people like Wambach or Leroux, or even Rodriguez, who were directing an attacking counter that was said to be the best in the whole tournament. They also are the reason why the team was having this little trouble advancing further and further. 

When the blonde opens her dorm's door - that she shares with juniors Kristie, Kling and Kelsey - she finds her teammates crawling on their beds, watching a game on TV. Kealia immediately recognizes Juventus' colors, and know Kling was probably the one insisting to watch it. She smirks, before throwing an envelope at them, containing the roster for Wednesday's game. For a Friday night, the campus was abnormally calm. 

Kling immediately grabs the envelope and unfolds it. When she sees her name on the starting eleven, she starts dancing around the dorm, before handing it to Kelsey and Kristie, who once again are substitutes. 

"Gibby made the roster" Kristie says, quite surprised. 

Of course Kelsey is the one saying : "She deserves it. That kid can play. No wonder she's Broon's new pupil."

"What do you mean ?" Kealia asks. 

The goalie smirks. 

"Well, she's like a mini-Becky, and a younger version of JJ, so my guess is that Becky is gonna _raise_ her as well."

"We all know Becky is raising the whole back line, except from me" Kling says, rolling her eyes. "I mean, Dahlkemper and Oyster also are her babies."

"She ain't raising you because you're a lost cause" Kelsey lets out, raising her eyebrow. 

Kling only smirks, but doesn't say anything. But Kealia, who is looking at the roster a little bit closer, suddenly realizes something. 

"She changed the formation"

"4-3-3 ?" Kelsey asks. 

Kealia nods. 

After a few minutes, the four girls leave their room. They are set to join some of the gals for an team-bonding dinner. When they arrive to the place they're expected, they find Tobin, Allie, Kelley and Ash already here. They greet her by high-fiving them, before sitting down around the wooden table. 

Tobin looks at Kealia for a while, before saying : 

"Ready for our home opener, Ohai ?" she asks, smirking. 

"Yah"

The forward can see her teammates nod, before they start talking about something else. She never has been the easiest girl to make friends with, but now that she spent two years in UCLA already, Kealia safely can say she belongs here. 

Like everybody does.   
  


* 

**Wednesday**

** _ UCLA vs UVA _ **

The scene is set.

After Jill's usual speech, the girls go on the field to warm up for about thirty minutes. On the other side of the pitch, the UVA team is already set, with a leading Morgan Brian and an excellent Emily Sonnett in defense. Their team also has Sofia Huerta, Danny Colaprico and Andressa, who all are extremely talented. UCLA knows that. 

On the stands, over 3'000 supporters are already here. The women's soccer team has earned herself some fans those past few years. They now are the most viewed and liked team on campus, all sports included. In other words, UCLA campus is an exception, and has been renamed the 'home of soccer'. As the fans are already chanting, the girls are focused on their warm ups. 

Especially Gibby, who is having a hard time not freaking out. 

On the stands to support their team are Megan, Jane, Rose and Mal. Neither of them is bitter about not playing today : Megan has just been traded here after a first year in USC, while the three other girls just got here. Gibby is an exception though, but since Jill needed four defenders, she called her up. Abby could've played, but a minor back injury is keeping her on the bench today. 

Also on the stands are a few other athletes, including the whole american football team, lead by JJ Watt (Kealia's boyfriend) and Zach Ertz (Julie's boyfriend). The two convinced their teammates to come to a game once, and despite their reluctantly because it was women's soccer, the guys now are their biggest fans. Becky's boyfriend Zola is also on the team, but not here today. The girls from the volleyball's team are also here, especially French student Laure Boulleau, who is rumored to be Tobin's crush. 

In other words : the girls couldn't lose today, otherwise those 3'000+ people coming to see them would be disappointed. And Tobin knows that very well. As she is putting her cleats on, only ten minutes from the beginning of the game, she sees Allie sit down next to her. 

"Laure's here" the blonde says, smirking. 

Tobin silently nods. 

"Some Stanford chicks also found their way here" Julie points out, her eyes locked on the stands. 

The two Harry turn around simultaneously, only to find out Julie's right : 5 players from the Stanford team are here, being Haley Kopmeyer, Shelina Zadorsky, Sam Mewis, Alex Morgan and Melissa Henderson (whose boyfriend appears to be on the same team than Zach and Watt). After spotting them, Becky immediately grows angry. 

As the captain is about to lose her shit and walk straight at them to tell them to get the hell away from here, Ash restrains her from doing so. 

"We will show them what we're capable of, captain. Don't worry." the goalie says in a calm tone. 

"They're not welcome here" Becky says, bitter. She then shakes her head. "I'm okay with Henderson and Mewis number two, but the three others are just here to cause trouble. Especially that Zadorsky girl."

"Oh, I thought she was the chillest one of them all tho" Kelsey says, looking their way. 

"She is not." Becky coldly says 

Neither Kelsey or Ash feel like saying otherwise, so the girls fall in total silence. As they are called to do the pregame ritual, Tobin and Allie start walking toward their team. In the process, Tobin's eyes meet Laure's, who is smiling at her. The middy cracks a shy smiles, before deciding it's best to ignore her because she'd be too much of a distraction. 

After saying good luck to all players, the girls get into position, as the substitutes join the bench. But either of the four has the time to sit down, because Allie's first touch of the game consists in firing a shot right in the upper corner of the goal. 

UCLA leads 1-0 in the 1rst minute, under a burning sun, a crazy crowd and a hugging team.  
  


*

Right after their 3-1 (_Long, Heath & Horan for UCLA, Brian for UVA_) win against UVA, and as Lindsey is joining Moe and Emily, her two childhood friends, and some other girls are greeting some of their friends, Becky walks straight at the Stanford players, who still are there. Ash and Kelley are right behind her.

Because they know Becky doesn't swallow her words. 

"How many times to I have to tell you you are not welcome here ?" she snaps at the players. 

Kopmeyer and Alex immediately burst into laughter, as Shelina's eyes are just locked on Becky, pretty insisting. As far as Melissa and SMew are concerned, they are just with either their boyfriends or sister. Speaking of which, we can say the Mewis sisters are having a heated conversation, as Abby is holding Steph back so that she doesn't bring any more drama into the conversation. 

Those laughs just upsets Becky as well, but not only. 

"At least show us respect" Ash harshly says, eye-killing Alex Morgan. 

The forward is not impressed. 

"I'm sorry, but we are in a free country, so we can freely come-"

"We are not. Not when Trump is president. So, bye." the goalie insists, sarcastically throwing shade at the brunette. 

As Alex is about to say something again, Shelina puts her hand on her arm. And that just makes Becky lose her shit. 

"I swear if you're not gone in five seconds I will kick your asses" she yells, as people are turning around, confused. 

Of course everybody near them heard that. Even though Becky talked to all three Stanford players, her eyes remain locked on Shelina. Zach, who isn't far away from here, calls his guys and immediately jogs toward Becky. He knows how she is because she basically is Julie's sister and always hangs out with her ; he knows that she might just lose her shit when she's upset, especially if it's against Stanford. 

But Ash, who is here as well, is supporting her teammate one hundred percent. She takes a step ahead and looks at Kopmeyer straight in the eyes. 

"We came here to see our almost-new acquisitions play, that's all" Shelina calmly says, trying to calm things down. 

"Stanford is not welcome here !" one of the guys from Zach's team yells. 

Soon the Stanford players are surrounding the three girls, and Alex isn't that talkative. Shelina, who is just in font of the guys, take a step back, but people are all around them. She bumps into some girl from the basketball team.

A girl that hates being bumped into. 

"Are you for real bitch ?" she yells, before setting her jaw. 

Shelina starts fearing them. "S-sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Bitch say what ?"

As people are getting closer and closer to Shelina, Becky suddenly feels the urge to get her body in between the basketball girl and the Canadian. 

"Easy, you don't touch her" Becky orders in a cold tone. 

In the process of protecting Shelina, Becky's hand suddenly touches the brunette's arm, and she shivers. She then takes her hand back, only to eye-kill the girl in front of her. Of course Becky is respected in the entire campus, so the girl stands still. 

But when Alex is about to say something, Becky turns around to face her. She then smirks and says : 

"But you can hit that one."

With that said, she grabs Shelina's arm and pulls her away from the growing crowd. The girl from the basketball team says something, before Alex answers something. Soon, there is a big movement and some screams, which means the two girls are now fighting. But Becky doesn't really want to see this, so she keeps on walking. 

Once she finds a wall to hide behind, she pushes Shelina against it and says : 

"Never come back here again." 

As the captain is already walking away, she is pulled back by Shelina, who is beyond confused. 

"Thank you. For saving my ass" she says, and her usual confidence is now gone. Becky suddenly loses herself into the ocean eyes that are Shelina's. The Canadian stared right into the captain's eyes, and says : "I didn't have a choice. Lloyd sent me here to watch our soon-to-be newbies, I swear." 

"I don't believe you" Becky whispers, serious. 

Shelina suddenly takes a step forward, and puts a lock of Becky's hair behind her ears, a shy smile on her lips. 

"I will see you on the pitch."

After she starts walking away, Becky is snapped out of her thoughts and yells : 

"Take your freaking dogs with you please."

Shelina doesn't turn around. 

Becky sighs : she knows she's in trouble._ Everybody will know I am the one ordering that girl to hit that Morgan bitch. But what can I say _? Suddenly, something else pops to her mind : _people are going to wonder why I protected Shelina_. And that realization becomes real when she sees the look on Ash and Kelley's faces when Becky finally comes back. Security has done its job, and the basketball girl has been brought somewhere else. 

Ash has her arms crossed against her chest. 

"You owe me an explanation" the goalie coldly says. 

"I don't owe you shit" Becky answers, like the badass she really is. "I will see you tomorrow at training, and until then you keep your mouth shut, understood ?"

Ash sighs. "Understood."  
  
  
  


{**A/N : for those of you asking who's Laure Boulleau, she's a player for PSG and played with both Tobin and Lindsey.**

**Welcome to my ultimate inter-continental ship**.}


	6. French Girl Problem

The day after the game, on their day-off, Tobin decides to skip that dumb team-committee - where they probably are going to talk about the incident that occurred earlier, and the middy clearly doesn't care about those Stanford gals enough to hear about them even when they don't play against them - and join Laure.

Ever since the French arrived in UCLA two years ago, as Tobin was a sophomore, the two girls have grown closer and closer. Even though nothing happened between the two of them - something Tobin is quite happy about, because she likes it how they are getting to know each other deep inside by taking their time - they both are aware of the situation. Before Laure, Tobin would just hook up with whatever girl she'd find. Those past two years, she seriously slowed down her love interests. She would only spend her parties with either of friends, or Laure through texts.

Allie, who has known Tobin for almost 20 years now, immediately knew something was the cause for Tobin's change. She also appears to know that Tobin's past could actually scare the French girl. So when she finally got Tobin to admit she had a crush on Laure, she warned her friend. Now, Allie can proudly say she is the only person knowing about them ; well, there are rumors here and there.

After a little walk, Tobin finally finds her way to Laure's dorm : she is rooming with her best friend, Sabrina Delannoy, who also appears to be French and cool. As Tobin is about to knock at the door, it opens and she finds herself face to face with Sabrina.

The French girl smirks.

"Hey, you can go in. She's under the shower and will be ready in five." Sabrina says, and once again Tobin is amazed by how her French accent has vanished with time.

Laure's, on the other hand, is still here, _and_ _incredibly__ sexy_, Tobin thinks to herself, before focusing again.

"Kay, thanks dude" she lets out.

"Anytime, have fun !" Sabrina shouts, before walking down the stairs. She then suddenly realizes she forgot to say something : "Please remind her she has to be here at 4 pm for the volleyball reunion !"

"Will do."

After Sabrina disappears from her sight, Tobin nonchalantly closes the door behind her and sits down on the bed.

Then, something on Laure's desk draws her attention : it's a photograph of her and Tobin, the first time they've met. It was at the university's marathon, and they found themselves running next to each other for hours. Tobin would always remember their instant connection, and the fact that Laure was and is still the only girl Tobin likes more than a friend or random person in her life.

Lost in her thoughts, Tobin doesn't hear the shower stop and the door open. It's only when she hears a loud cry, and turns around that she is snapped out of her thoughts. Laure is here, a towel covering her body, scared to death : she wasn't expecting her. She probably also thought that Sabrina was gone and that she would be alone. Tobin, on the other hand, just starts laughing, and Laure throws a shampoo at her.

The French then rolls her eyes

"Damn, I thought we said _rendez-vous_ at 2" Laure sighs out, rolling her eyes at her American friend.

"We did" Tobin confirms, smirking.

"Then why are you here one hour early ?"

"Well, training got cut short so I figured we could spend more time together" she explains, innocently shrugging.

Laure suddenly isn't mad anymore. She only grabs her clothes - a cute dress and elegant shoes, since she's always been pretty feminine in the way she dresses - and goes back to the bathroom. Two minutes later, she comes back, her dress opened on the side.

She looks at Tobin, pretty uncomfortable.

"Can you help me with that ?" she asks, blushing.

"Uhm" Tobin lets out, checking the girl out without her noticing. She then shakes her head and gets on her feet. "Sure."

As soon as her fingers attack the zipper, brushing by Laure's skin, the French shivers and tenses up. The middy, who has noticed that, awkwardly coughs and pretends to be all chill and shit, like she usually is.

Once she's done, Tobin walks away from the girl.

"So, what do you wanna do ?" Laure asks, as her blush quickly disappear

_I love __seeing_ _her_ _blush_, Tobin thinks to herself.

"Sab told me to remind you about some volleyball meeting" the brunette lets out.

That immediately makes Laure sigh.

"Ugh, forgot about that. Maybe I could ditch it ?" she says, looking straight at Tobin.

"No !" the middy argues, gesturing. "This team needs you, Lau !"

"You're right." Laure says, obviously annoyed. Afterwards, as she is grabbing her bag and that Tobin is at the door, she gives her a funny look, before saying : "You still haven't told me where we are going ?"

"Coffee ?"

Of course Laure knows Tobin is talking about their favorite coffee shop on campus, where they always meet. 

*

"Where the fuck is Tobs ?" Becky asks, angry.

"I don't think she needs to be here" Julie argues, meeting her mentor's eyes with concern. "I mean, she wasn't even on the pitch anymore when it happened."

"True" the captain says.

The whole room falls into silence.

Here are practically the whole team, minus Kealia, Abby, Megan, Kristie and Lindsey, who all have exams today. All the girls have heard or seen what happened with the Stanford girls, especially Alex Morgan, who was slapped by a girl from the basketball team. The girl in question didn't say anything about the fact that Becky told her she could beat Alex up, and pleaded that the Stanford players was throwing abuses at them.

Steph, who is lying down on the arms of a tired Abby, starts feeling inpatient. She throws a death glare at the two defenders, and says :

"Can we go back to the point please ?" she asks in quite an aggressive tone. "I'm fucking hungry."

Becky only looks at Abby tho. "I don't know how you still can bear her. Amazing what love can do right ?"

That causes a few laughs in the audience, while Abby just rolls her eyes at her annoying girlfriend and runs her fingers through the brunette's hair. Steph immediately relaxes and pays more attention to what is said.

Janine, who is sitting on the other couch with Kling and Gibby, sighs.

"Those Stanford gals should never have come in the first place, Becks" she says, serious, looking up at her captain. "You have nothing to feel bad for. Like, for real, that Morgan girl deserved it."

"Agreed" Allie lets out, which basically is a miracle since her and Janine never agree on anything.

The Canadian smirks at the blonde, before winking.

As Becky is talking about why she acted the way she did - obviously not the whole story...- the door opens and Kristie appears at the door. She silently greets everyone, before noticing the only space left is next to Gibby. So while nervously biting her lips, she totally ignores the younger girl, sitting next to her.

Gibby, on the other hand, is focused on what Becky has to say, because it's quite important :

"We should focus on the games ahead of us, because our first game against Stanford is only in two months. We need to build our relationships on and off the field, because the newbies need to be integrated : we can't rely on the veterans only. I need 100% commitment, and also no distractions." Everyone can hear Steph sigh, as some of the girl start smiling. The captain looks at the couple, before rolling her eyes. "You guys are not concerned by this. What I mean is that I need you all to be _here_."

"Yes captain" Allie yells.

The girls start clapping, before silence falls again.

"Okay, so our next game is next weekend, against Clemson. They're not a big team, so the rookies will be tested. I count on every single one of you here to support them, and push them toward victory. Understood ?"

In a common agreement, all the girls start clapping their hands, as Kling starts grabbing Mal's shoulders to shake her up a little bit. As the team is now set to go and grab some dinner together, Ash stops Becky.

The captain waits for everybody to be gone and their voices to have vanished to ask :

"What is it ?"

The goalkeeper, who never has been the kind of girl to ignore something that is bothering her, doesn't keep her voice unheard.

"Are things okay with Zola ?" she calmly asks, raising her eyebrows. When she sees Becky's eyes darkening a little bit, she immediately adds : "You seem... somewhere else recently. And I barely even see you guys together, so I figured-"

"You figured badly" Becky interrupts her, serious. "We are going through the usual couple stuff, but that's not something you might possibly understand because you don't have an actual girlfriend, am I right ?"

Of course Becky's got claws. Ash knows that. But she also knows the captain to have played by her side for three years already : something is indeed bothering her, but the keeper can't seem to put a finger on it.

She silently nods.

"You're right. I'm just trying to be here for my friend."

"Don't worry, I'm fine. Right now we all need to focus on this team." Becky says.

The goalkeeper nods, and leads the way outside of the dorm.

*

Gibby, who is walking back to her dorm on her own because she wanted to walk alone - therefore, she lied to her roommates, telling them she needed to call her mother, who actually is in an humanitarian mission in the middle of Irak, with no WiFi, so, yeah - looks around her, grateful to be able to be in one of the best campus in the USA.

As she is walking in the total silence that is 2 am in a quiet side of campus, she hears some footsteps behind her. She jumps, turning around in a rush, only to find Kristie a couple meters away, hands in her pockets. Gibby hesitates on whether she should wait for her or not, but she finally decided to follow the thoughts that remind her what Becky just told them about team bonding or something and wait.

Of course, the middy takes her time to catch up with her. Once she does, the blonde looks down at Gibby, who looks tired.

"Hey" the brunette says, setting her jaw.

"What are you doing here all by yourself ?" Kristie asks, totally ignoring the first sentence Gibby said.

The rookie shakes her head.

"I could ask you the exact same question." is all she answers, before walking faster.

"Woah, kitty got claws" Kristie sarcastically says, as Gibby is slowly distancing her.

The brunette doesn't take what she says into consideration, until Kristie jogs to her and grabs er arm.

"I'd rather walk alone please" Gibby says, before looking up at Kristie in the eyes.

The blonde smirks, before she stops grabbing her arm.

"Sorry, Giblet, I didn't realize you're challenging your inner Grumpy" Kristie says, before starting to walk away slowly. She then looks at Gibby, who hasn't moved a big, before saying : "We should have coffee together one day."

"No way."

"Your call, Giblet."

"Go away."

When Kristie disappears into the night, a smile suddenly finds its way on Gibby's lips.


	7. Jill's got Game

Becky is woken up by loud knocks on the door. Zola, who is lying down next to her, sighs, before getting up and put a boxer on. As soon as he opens the door, he just finds himself standing in front of a very angry Ash, and a confused Kelley. 

The goalkeeper doesn't lose any time.

"Bye, Zola."

With that said, she comes in, grabs the dude's clothes, throws them at him, before pushing him outside and locking the door. Becky, who suddenly feels way more awake than two seconds ago, sits down on her bed, confused. 

The captain rolls her eyes. 

"You two better have a good reason to come here, otherwise-"

"Janine got beaten up" Ash aggressively says. As Becky is trying to figure out what's happening, the goalies continues : "They want revenge, Becky, for what you did to Alex. So they found Janine - sweet, innocent, Janine - and beat her up." 

"She's in the hospital now with Kealia and Megan" Kelley says, absolutely guttered. 

"Wait-" Becky tries to say, but either girl seems like they want to listen. 

Ash is the first one to grow angry :

"We need to do something._ You_ need to do something." 

The captain shakes her head. "Shut up and let me think" she orders, before looking up at Kelley, who looks like she knows more than the goalie about the overall situation. Becky then shakes her head, and asks : "Do we know who did it ?"

"Some Stanford's supporters" Kelley says. 

"I know what we are going to do" Becky lets out, before grabbing her phone. When the person she's calling picks the phone up, she says : "Hi, Mrs Cox. Rebecca Sauerbrunn on the phone, I need to inform you about an unfortunate event that occurred this morning... Yes, a brutality case against one of our players... Yes, Stanford... Thank you Mrs Cox, I will be here in two minutes."

With that said, the defender shamelessly gets up, still naked, as her teammates roll their eyes and turn around so that she can dress up. Once it's done, Becky starts gathering some of her things. 

Ash is right behind her, confused. 

"What do you need ?" she asks, serious. 

"Go and bring me Kelsey, Tobin and Allie. We need impressive people around me" Becky says, focused. She then looks at Kelley, and says : "You, go and call for a team meeting. The rest of the girls need to know what's going on. Also, call Kealia or Megan to have update on Janine. Tell them I will come around as soon as I am done with that."

"Got it" Kelley and Ash exclaim in the same time.

The brunette immediately jogs out of the apartment, her phone in hands, while Ash grabs her phone and calls her teammates. 

The war shall begin.

*

"As I told you before, me and my teammates had no idea about this unfortunate event" Hope Solo says in her husky voice, while her co-captain, Carli Lloyd, silently nods. 

But it doesn't go unheard. 

"Bullshit" Tobin lets out, angry. 

Mrs Cox, the campus' director, throws a death glare at her student, before putting her attention back on the girls in front of them, as well as their head coach, Paul Riley. Jill Ellis is here as well, arms crossed against her chest. 

The head coach immediately addresses Paul Riley : 

"If you can't control your supporters, Mr Riley, I am afraid we will have to sue you" the British woman starts, and before the man can interrupt her, she adds in a fierce voice : "Before your misogynist mouth dares to cut me off while I speak, I would like to add that one of our players has been severely injured, while some of your own players, Mr Riley, did come on this very campus to upset our players before their first game of the season, pleading to be 'watching their soon-to-be teammates' play." 

Coach Riley rolls his eyes. 

"We indeed have new acquisitions on the UVA team, Madam" the man says in a confident yet annoying voice, smirking at Jill. "Therefore, I sent two of my players to watch the game. They didn't do anything bad, they just-"

"I need some names, Mr Riley" Mrs Cox coldly says. 

"Sure" the head coach says, smirking. "Kopmeyer and Zadorsky."

"So why three more were here ?" Allie questions, raising her eyebrows. 

Riley bursts into laughter. 

"Mrs Cox, this is not a trial. You can't possibly let students question me" he says in his usual provocative voice, looking at the other coach. 

Jill makes a sign to her players - except for Becky, because she is the captain - to leave the room, which they obey. Tobin throws a death glare at the man, before closing the door behind her. Afterwards, Jill stares at Riley, unfazed. 

"Nevertheless, Miss Long wasn't wrong" the British woman says, before looking directly at the headmaster. "It appears that Alex Morgan was here as well, and started a fight with some supporters of the Bruins right after saying inappropriate words-" 

"There is no proof of that, Mrs Cox I-" Paul Riley tries. 

But Jill is not impressed. 

"Furthermore, I would like to ask Mr Riley what player he sent his girls to look at ?" she asks in a confident voice. 

Coach Riley starts smirking.

"Morgan Brian, midfielder for the University of Virginia"

"That is very weird, given that we have acquired Miss Brian's rights for the two upcoming seasons, including this one. She is set to arrive in three days, just in time for her file to get transferred." Jill explains, with a smirk on her face. 

_This woman is a genius_, Becky thinks, a smile on her face. She can't help but look at her rivals, who aren't that happy right now. 

"What the-" Paul Riley starts. 

"It occurs to me that Miss Brian prefers to come in UCLA after all." the Bruins head coach settles, winking. 

The Stanford head coach is obviously bottling up inside, as his eyes are throwing daggers at Jill Ellis. Of course the British head coach would stand up for her team and players : and stealing Morgan Brian from Stanford was the best way to put both Becky and the supporters out of this messy situation. 

The captain exchanges a grateful look with her coach, as Mrs Cox stares right at Riley when she says in a beyond serious voice : 

"I think it is fair to say that you have no business doing here, Mr Riley. I recommend you never send your players here, unless for competition, because they tend to cause trouble. Also, I will get in touch with Stanford's headmaster : the people who violently abused Janine Beckie need to be punish." 

"Yes, m'mam" Paul Riley says, but his eyes are still trying to kill Jill. 

As everyone is getting out of Mrs Cox' office, Becky stops right before the stairs. When someone bumps into her just a little bit, she turns around and finds herself facing both Carli Lloyd and Hope Solo. 

The impressive goalie fakes a smile so that Jill wouldn't suspect anything, but while she is shaking Becky's hand, she whispers : 

"We will make you and your fucking team pay for that, Sauerbrunn."

"I'm looking forward to seeing you again, Hopey" Becky sarcastically says, before frowning. "Or should I say, _traitor _?" After that, she just faces Carli and adds : "You too, Car."

The middy only nods, before they all walk away. 

*

"Here" Megan says, handling Janine a glass of water. 

The Canadian forward silently thank her, before drinking the whole glass bottom up. That makes Megan and Kealia laugh, before they both sits down either on the bed or in the chair next to it. The forward has a black eye, few stitches on the face and a big mark on the neck. Overall, and according to her doctor, she has a broken ribs, but will be all right. 

Kealia, who is tensing up because of the recent events, asks one more time : 

"Do you know who did that to you ? I mean, are you sure ?"

Janine nods. "I would recognize their faces among thousands. There was this tall ginger dude, who is Zadorsky's boyfriend. Alex Morgan and her boyfriend were there too. She actually was the one beating me up while the guys were holding me. And there were few more people around us - mostly boys - but I haven't seen their faces because it was dark."

"So that's exactly what you told the cops, right ?" Megan asks, raising her eyebrows. 

"No" Janine says, looking straight into her teammate's eyes. "I was told not to. But what matters is that I was able to recognize Morgan and her boyfriend, and that Stanford's committee is going to take actions"

"Why haven't you said anything about Zadorsky if you were sure he was her boyfriend ?" Kealia asks, confused. 

"Becky said it wasn't necessary." the Canadian says, shrugging. 

"Makes sense" Megan lets out, which immediately earns her some confused looks from her teammates. The blonde then rolls her eyes. "Why talk about Zadorsky when everybody know Morgan was the one involved in that fight the other day ? Focusing on Morgan allows us to get Morgan suspended, which means..."

"She won't be able to play for two months" Kealia says, a smile on her face. "She won't be here for their game against us."

"Becky is very smart" Janine points out, before frowning. "I wouldn't want to be her enemy, because, like, damn."

The two other girls nod, before bursting into laughter. 


	8. Rising Tension

"Becky is hiding something from us" Ash whispers, as the other girls are having fun on the pitch while waiting for Jill and Dawn to arrive. The goalkeeper is tying her cleats on, as Allie and Kelley are on each side of her, doing the exact same thing. When she sees a concerned peak into Allie's eyes, Ash sighs. "I don't want to question her judgment or her ability on the field, but she is hiding something from us."

Kelley and Allie exchange a look, before the blonde says : 

"I think everyone has their own secrets"

That makes the goalie frowns. "What do you mean ?"

"I mean that" Allie starts, but when Becky walks on the field in their direction, she suddenly lowers her voice. "everyone has done things they're not proud of. She is an amazing captain, and if she doesn't want to share her personal life with us, then let be it."

"But, what if it affects the team at some point ?" Ash insists. 

"Pookie" Allie warns her, her eyes darkening. "Drop it."

The goalie knows very much that Allie is right : Becky doesn't owe them any explanations, especially since she saved their asses in the headmaster's office yesterday. But a part of her can't stop wondering what she is hiding from them, especially Ash, who would consider herself as Becky's closest friend on the team with Kelley : they got here together the first year, and are going to live their fourth and final year together. 

When the captain sits down in front of them, nonetheless, Ash remains silent. Once she is done putting her cleats on, and that Julie and Megan joined the group to take part of the conversation concerning the back line, the goalie gets on her feet and walks toward the goal. Dawn, who usually does the keeper training, has already prepared some things - God knows when, because she still isn't here. Kelsey and Jane are already doing some passes, so Ash just joins them. 

But the backup goalie immediately sees something is bothering her friend. 

"'Sup ?" she asks in a chill voice. 

Sometimes, Ash can't stop but think that Tobin and Kelsey's brotp was meant to be, because the two girls kinda are the same person sometimes. The goalie only shakes her head, before looking at her two teammates. 

"Nothing. Tired."

Kelsey knows the short-haired is lying, but she doesn't say anything._ Maybe she's not ready_, she thinks to herself, silently nodding. Jane, who has felt their mental conversation, just remains silent as well. 

But after some time, the rookie says with concern in her voice : 

"Wait, why are Stanford's keepers here ?"

The three keepers immediately turn around. 

Indeed, Hope Solo and Haley Kopmeyer are here, their resting bitch faces looking around the Bruins sitting on the floor, probably judging them or something. By their side is a tall brunette with clear green eyes, who can easily be guessed as being the rookie keeper, Kailen Sheridan. Their coach is here too, a guy names Rory. 

Of course Ash wouldn't be very happy about seeing her former teammate and mentor, who betrayed them, on the exact same pitch they are going to face each other in a few weeks. The short-haired immediately sets her jaw, walking toward the group, where Dawn also is.

When the assistant coach sees her player walk in such determination, she raises her hands in front of her to order her to calm down. Becky, who also is pretty angry, is jogging toward the group of players. 

"What the fuck, Dawn ?" Ash angrily asks, her eyes throwing daggers at Hope. 

Once Becky is finally here, she adds : "Is that a joke ? One of them beat one of us, and in exchange they send their keepers here to train with us ?" the blonde asks in a calm voice, even though everything in her is screaming. 

_At least Shelina's not here_, she thinks to herself, trying to find a bright side. 

The situation somehow makes Hope laugh, and when both Ash and Becky are about to throws fire at her with mean words, she says : 

"Don't think we even had a choice". With that said, she stares at Kelsey and Jane, who also are here, their arms crossed against their chests. "Hey there, fresh blood."

"Dawn ?" Becky asks, impatient. 

The British woman stares at her players, and they all see none of this makes her happy. It's quite the opposite. 

"In order to prove that we don't have a problem with Stanford and that they are the only ones trying to come at us, the committee agreed on merging the keeper's practices, which means the six of you will have to work together today, and maybe some more later his month." she quickly explains, before exchanging a look with Rory. "We are going to train you together, so please, no cat fights."

"This is insane" Becky groans, rolling her eyes. 

Hope smirks. "So you do indeed have a problem with Stanford, Broon ?"

"No, I don't. Do I have a problem with their players instead ? Hell yes." the captain defenders herself. 

"Becky, you should go back to the others" Dawn calmly says. 

The captain nods, before looking at her teammates, silently saying '_don't mess this up or Alex Morgan won't get suspended_'. She then jogs back to the rest of the team, who is staring at the keepers, all their arms crossed against their chests. As Becky clears out the situation, with Jill's help - the British woman, who looks like she is as upset about this call than her team is - Dawn turns back toward the keepers. 

Even Jane doesn't look happy. 

"While Rory and I get this training underway, I want you to go by pair and start warming up correctly." Dawn orders. 

The girls nod. 

Quite naturally, the pairs are already formed. Hope immediately throws a ball at Ash - of course the Stanford's gals are trying to cause them to lose patience so that Alex would be relieved from her punitive sentence - as Haley is challenging Kelsey with her look. So as all the older girls start training, exchanging rather not-so-friendly, low-voiced words, Jane finds herself stucked with the other rookie. 

Kailen Sheridan is rumored to be quite a fun but competitive person, Jane knows that. So her strategy is just to ignore her when she starts talking trash. Which kind of starts right away : 

"So, you are the new recruit ?" 

"Yes, but you know that already, so why do you ask ?"

Kailen quickly takes a look around her, only to notice that the four other keepers are too busy throwing secret shade at each other to listen to their conversation. So she lowers her voice as well, before saying : 

"Look, the only reason why I came today is because someone from your team broke my little sister's heart, and I need an explanation from her" 

Her tone, on the other hand, doesn't look friendly at all. Jane immediately understands that all she wants is revenge. 

"Who's your sister ?" Jane asks, trying not to sound too interested. 

"Marina."

"You mean, the psycho that almost chocked Rose because she refused to go to prom with her ?" Jane rephrases, raising her eyebrows. 

She knows that wouldn't make the brunette very happy. And Kailen's deadly eyes are confirming that 

"Marina is not the bad guy in the story" the girl insists in a strong Canadian accent. 

"You should drop it, Kailen" Jane says in a confident tone. "I was there when it happened, and your sister is not out of the closet, that's why Rose refused to go with her. No wonder she's your sister."

"Excuse me ?" 

As their eyes-fight is becoming more and more intense, Kelsey steps in front of Kailen and wraps an arm around Jane's shoulders. 

"Do you have a problem with our girl ?" Kelsey asks in a cold tone, and even Hope or Haley wouldn't mess with her. 

Kailen keeps her head up, and says : "Nah, it's all fine." 

After that interaction, Dawn and Rory are back, and training can begin, under the careful and attentive eyes of not only the whole Bruin team, but also the headmaster's eyes. 

*

Becky is torn apart between anger and nervousness. 

When Shelina finally shows up, her car stopping in the middle of the parking, right in front of the other girl's, Becky rolls her eyes. She gets off her car, and so does the Canadian. When she realizes she needs to go right to the point, in order not to get lost on the girl's ocean eyes, Becky says : 

"You're late."

"I know, I'm sorry, we had a team meeting and Hope wouldn't let us go, I-" Shelina starts, honest. 

"Did you, or did you not send your boyfriend to beat a Bruin player up ?" Becky coldly asks. 

The Canadian truly looks surprised. "Who ? Adam ?" she asks, her voice shaking a little bit. She then shakes her head. "Of course not, why would you assume-"

"Because he helped that Morgan girl beat one of my girl up." 

"Becky, I swear I have nothing to do with that-"

"LIAR !" the captain yells, making Shelina jump in the process. Of course Becky has a special affection toward the brunette, but she has always promised herself that her team would come first. It always has since she was named captain. She needs to be true to her girls, show them that she can make sacrifices for them. And Shelina is a sacrifice. Once she has calmed down a little bit, Becky grabs Shelina's collar in order to scare her, as her face is only inches away from hers. "You sent him there because you knew I'd protect you, just like you came to the UVA game because I would never have let anyone hurt you".

Shelina shakes her head, and when Becky also grabs her neck in the process, she winces. 

"Becky, you're hurting me-" she starts, out of breath. 

"Tell me the truth !" the captain yells. "Come on, Shel. Tell me you used me ! I wanna hear it from your mouth. Speak !"

"The only reason I came to the UVA game was because there is no other way I can see you !" the Canadian says, and Becky can hear through her voice how shatters she is. 

Becky pushes her against the car, as Shelina's arm makes a weird noise. As the Canadian is wincing again, the captain spills out : 

"Stop lying !"

"Becks, please..."

"Did you, or did you not sent Adam after Janine ?" 

"I-I did, but I had no other choice, I-"

"I knew it !"

More than angry, Becky crashes her hand on Shelina's car, right next to the girl, who jumps. Despite the pain the captain now feels, she throws the Canadian a death glare : _how dare she be on the verge of tears when she the manipulative one_ ?

Becky shakes her head. 

"What if I had said no to Hope ?" Shelina says in a weak voice, absolutely terrified. "All the other girls on the team have sent their boyfriends there ! What would they have thought if I said no ? Tell me ?"

"That doesn't excuse the fact that you used me" Becky lets out, bitter. 

"Becks, I'm sorry... I swear I didn't mean to-"

"Of course you meant to, Shelina. You've always known how to use me to get what you want : come inside my head and mess things up. But I can tell you that's over : next time, when you're about to be beaten up, I will let them do it."

This time, the pain in Shelina's eyes are ringing an alarm on Becky, but she chooses to ignore it. The Canadian pushes her hand away, as a tear slips on her cheek. 

"But..." the brunette starts, wiping her tear away. "I love you..."

"That's too bad." is all Becky says before sitting back on her car, driving past Shelina, who now is crying very hard. 

_Take one for the team, Becky_, the captain thinks to herself, as her heart breaks a little bit more every second she is driving away from the girl she loves. 


	9. Forbidden Lovers

"Look" Kristie lets out, tired. "The starting XI for tonight's game is here"

When the blonde actually looks at the paper - that Jill and Dawn purposely left there on purpose, since the game is in less than an hour and a half - her eyes go wide, as well as her smile :

When she sees the piece of paper, Steph immediately looks at Kristie, before yelling : "That's my bitch right here !" As the girls are exchanging a high five, Abby rolls her eyes. When Steph notices that, she immediately walks back to the blonde and quickly pecks her lips. "And of course my woman is getting the start as well !"

"You won't make up for it for now, laddie" Abby lets out, walking away from Steph, who suddenly has a shocked face on. 

Lindsey, who is just walking past them, starts smirking :_ no wonder those two are together, they just are as sarcastic and savage as the other_. And the forward is not the only one to think that : the whole team does. 

She sits not next to Allie, as Ash claps her hands. 

"Well, since I won't play today, I'll join Janine on the stands !" she exclaims, smiling. "Good luck girls, kick some butts out there !"

"Wait" Julie calls, getting up as well. "I'm coming with you."

Soon, the two girls walk out of the locker room, after the goalie congratulated Kelsey for the start, even though the other keeper started more important games in the past. Then, only the starting players and the bench remain on the locker room. Becky calls for a huddle, as the girls are positioned in a circle.

The captain then gives her speech : 

"Remember : tight defense, wide play-making, and the victory is ours girls ! I also need you to play together, until the end : support each other on that pitch, even if there are mistakes or goals for Clemson. I want to see an united group of girls today, because that's what we need to go far this year ! I want the newbies to be encircled, in a way that allows each one of you to give them instructions if you feel like it. Kelley ?" she then calls, and the brunette winks at her captain, captain. "You will supervise Rose today. And Kealia ? You will keep an eye on Mal, got it ?"

The two experimented players nod, as the newbies are quite happy. Gibby, on the other hand, is freaking out : of course it's only her second game, and she was hoping to get some advises as well. 

Jill, after smiling at her captain, says : 

"As far as the subs are concerned, I will sub Rose out during the second half or when I see you're tired" the British coach explains in a confident tone. "It's your first game, so it's going to be difficult. When I do the sub, Kelley you will take her spot, as Megan will enter to replace you, got it ?"

Everybody nod. 

*

After the game, Steph is upset. 

During the second half, as the team was leading 5-0 in the 78' minute (_goals from Mal (x2), Lindsey (x2) and Steph_), one of the Clemson girl tried to tackle the blonde, but was very late. The only result to this is that Abby went down hard, and that she hit her head on the other girl's cleats. Even though Abby was in a lot of pain, the doctors said it would be better for her to just stay in bed for a while and get some rest. 

So Steph set the scene up : she created a cozy ambiance in Abby's loft, as one of their teammates would bring her back here after her visit at the hospital. She bed is ready for Abby to chill in, and Steph also cooked and made some tea. 

When the door opens, Steph rushes to the main room, as Abby turns her back on her. Once she's closed the door, she turns around and her jaw drops. Forgot to mention : Steph is naked, and her abs are very hard not to see. Abby's eyes check her out quickly, as she closes her mouth. No matter how many times the two girls have slept together, it never grows old, and Steph loves that look full of desire her girlfriend gave her. 

The defender is quite astonished though. 

"Hey baby" she greets the brunette, as she fakes ignoring the fact that she is naked and hungry. "Mmh, you cooked something ?" 

"Chicken and salad, yes." Steph seriously says. Once Abby has put her sports bag on the ground, the brunette wraps her arms around her waist, which causes the defender to wrap her arms around Steph's neck. The brunette quickly kisses her, before saying : "I hope you're hungry".

Abby couldn't even ignore this seductive tone, even if she wanted to. So she grins, before smirking and caress the back of Steph's head with one of her hands. 

"Come here, you hot woman" she sarcastically says, before kissing the brunette. 

But Steph quickly stops her from doing so, smirking as well : "Babe, maybe you should shower first. You kind of stinks."

"Speaking of eating, you may want to undress me first" Abby says, winking. 

After spending quite some time under the shower, the two girls find their way to the bed. Once they're done catching their breathes, Abby rolls to the side and relies on her elbows, in order to be able to look at Steph. 

Even though it's only been a year and a half since they started dating, they have known each other through high school and have fallen for each other way before they entered UCLA. And now, even after all the fights, the differences and the hard times, they're still together. To be truthful, Steph couldn't imagine her life without Abby on it : the blonde brings her so many things she needs, including support and control. 

As she realizes her girlfriend is quite thoughtful, Abby asks : 

"Are you okay baby girl ?"

Steph immediately smiles, as her eyes are looking straight in Abby's. Her hands then caress her jaw, as Abby's usual smirk is back on her face. 

"Yah" Steph only says. 

"Are you sure ?" the defender insists, before seeing that little breach, the one that allows her to know her girlfriend is lying. Abby is good at understanding facial expressions, especially Steph's, so she doesn't let go. "What on your mind ?"

"You."

That makes Abby burst into laughter. "Stop joking around, Stephy" she then orders, pinching the brunette's nose. 

"I'm not babe. I really, really love you." Steph insists, convinced that she never tells her enough how in love with her she's fallen. 

"I love you too, you know that" the blonde says, still smiling. "And I gotta admit, your buffalo chicken is the best I've ever had, so just for that I'll remain your girlfriend until the end of times baby."

"Jerk" Steph smirks, before pulling her closer. 

Abby's lips catch Steph's, biting them, before kissing them softly. Steph's arms are now wrapped around her, causing her to climb on top of the forward. And just like that, they're in for round seven.   
  


*

**_Shelina : I swear I had no choice. Please don't think I used you, because I could never have done such thing_**. 

The captain sighs, putting her phone down next to her. She then buries her face in her hands, as the tears are growing in her eyes._ Fuck off. Fuck this. Fuck her_. But anger is not the only feeling animating Becky right now : she misses her, more than ever. Distance usually keeps her from facing her feelings, but since she's seen Shelina again, she can't seem to take her off her thoughts. 

The phone buzzes again, and Becky fears to read something that will hurt her. When she sees Shelina's face on the screen, she sighs. 

**_Shelina : I meant what I said to you. Even though you don't want to talk to me anymore, I just wanted you to know that my feelings are real. I'm sorry we have to sacrifice so much for our teams. Things would've been so much easier if you came to Stanford_**. 

Becky immediately deletes the texts. 

When Julie enters the dorm after knocking, and finds her captain with red eyes and growing tears, she immediately closes the door and puts her bag on the table. The blonde then sits down on the bed as well, before looking at Becky. 

"Let it all out" the blonde whispers, thoughtful. "It will free you."

That's when Becky loses it. 

Fortunately enough, Julie is here to hold her, slowly and softly taping her back as she is crying her eyes out. All those conflicted feelings from the past months are surfacing through those tears of sadness, despair and, most of all, that demonstrate how hurt she is. The mentor relies on her girl's arms, Julie who never has been judgmental or anything. It's quite the opposite, actually. 

After a few minutes, Becky pulls it together and gets away from Julie's embrace. While the blonde is peacefully waiting for the older girl to speak, the captain just wipe her tears away, before shamefully looking at her teammate. 

"You can tell me everything, Broon" Julie softly says, honest. "You know I will never betray you, you know that."

"But I betrayed all of you" Becky lets out in despair. 

Julie frowns. "What do you mean ?" 

As an answer, Becky only shakes her head. Her stomach is hurting really badly right now, but she knows she has to bounce back and try to forget that weird feeling after losing Shelina. She knows she owes the team that ; a team she has dedicated her life for, made many sacrifices to maintain. 

To be a great leader. 

"I made a error in judgment" 

"Falling for someone is not an error in judgment, Becky" Julie whispers, like if she fears that someone would hear them through the walls. 

Becky's eyes go wide, as she looks at her teammate, terrified. 

"W-wait, you-" she starts, absolutely freaking out. 

"Not until the moment you saw her on the stands before the UVA game" Julie explains, taking Becky's hand in hers. She then smirks, before saying : "I've never seen you so afraid of anyone, so I figured that girl had done something special."

"Julie..."

"She owns your heart, and you're scared to death." the younger girl continues, ignoring her mentor. 

The two girls then all into silence, until Becky says : 

"It doesn't matter now, I shut her out"

Julie frowns. "_That old 'take one for the team_', right ?" she asks, as if it was predicable from the captain. Becky only nods. "You know, you don't have to blame yourself, or even that girl. The only person responsible is, and always has been Hope. If it wasn't for her, Stanford wouldn't be our enemies..."

"What happened with Hope is my fault as well" Becky reminds the younger girl, her eyes darkening. "And Ash'. And Kelley's."

"How so ?"

Instead of responding, Becky suddenly gets on her feet and starts gathering her things : she soon has classes, and hates feeling vulnerable, especially in front of someone. She then turns around, before saying : 

"That's a story you don't wanna hear, JJ. Now, promise me you won't say anything about the past five minutes." 

"I promise".

"Good." Becky lets out, before pulling it together once and for all. When she realizes the girl is not moving a bit, she adds : "Now, go to class because I need you to be educated !"

Julie exits the room, as Becky grabs her phone. 

**_Stop sending me texts_**. 

As soon as she sends the message, Becky knows it's going to be a rough couple of days, especially since she has practice every day, and that Ash and Kelley are growing more and more curious with time. 


	10. Declaration of War

_One_ _month_ _later_

**GAME ** **DAY** ** vs Stanford **

**_UCLA _****_Starting_****_XI_** : 

**_Stanford's_****_Starting_****_XI_** :

_(Due __to__ a suspension, Flemming replaces Morgan on __the_ _Starting_ _XI__)_

___________________________________

Rose nervously steps on the pitch, as Stanford's supporters are acclaiming their women's soccer team with flags and banners. This game is more than the first meeting of the year (out of two or three, depending on how things turn out), and more than _just_ a regular game. The tension that goes with it is almost unbearable. She know the opportunity is amazing, but she is the only newbie on the field. 

As the teams are waiting for the officials to give them a sign to great the other team and get into position, Kealia, who appears to be right next to Rose, gives her a tap in the back. The two girls exchange a careful look, before focusing. 

When Becky shakes Carli's hand, the Stanford captain whispers : "Get ready to eat the grass, Sauerbrunn." 

Becky only winks at her in order to piss her off, and ignores the hateful look all the Stanford players are giving her and her teammates. But the only thing that really hurts her is that Shelina doesn't even look at her in the eyes, as her face is lacking in emotions. She's buried in her ivory tower again, Becky things to herself, quite glad to be in the end of the team greetings. 

Once it's done, she gathers her teammates, as they do the hoodle, before the whistle blows. About three minutes later, Becky goes down hard, on a late tackle from Lloyd. 

* 

"You son of a bitch" Kling starts yelling, running at the referee, who obviously has been payed because he didn't even warn Lloyd, as Becky is on the ground, biting the dust in an unbearable pain. "This is not normal !"

As the ref starts a little argument with a few players, the scene near Becky is more interesting : right after the captain went down and that Lloyd got back on her feet, Tobin immediately walked toward her and pushed her away. 

Allie, who finds herself in the middle of this, doesn't do anything to stop her. 

"Touch Becky, deal with all of us" Tobin spits out, before actually spitting on Carli, who becomes more angry than she's ever been. 

"How dare you..."

"Girls" Rampone says, walking toward them. "There is no way you're gonna win this game, or any other without your captain and your best midfielder" she says in her bitchy voice, smirking at the girls from the other team. 

Allie frowns, looking at Tobin, who also is confused. 

"How is Laure doing ?" Krieger asks, pretending to be innocent. "Because our friends really did like her when they visited her like ten minutes ago."

This time, even if Allie would've wanted to hold her best friend back because she knows it's a trap, she couldn't have because the brunette immediately gets mad. Her fist ends up on Cali's face, who falls on the ground, overreacting, as Tobin wants to kick her. Allie hold her back, but when Hope comes into the clutch, Ash sprints from the goal to punch the goalkeeper in the face as well. 

While those events are occurring, Becky is still on the ground, holding her knee. When she feels a cold hand on her back, she immediately thinks it's Julie. So she is quite surprised - even with the pain - to see Shelina, concern filling her beautiful eyes. Becky closes her eyes : _no__, go __away__, __you_ _don't__ have __the_ _right_ _to_ _touch__ me_, she thinks, feeling butterflies in her stomach. 

Soon, the field is taken over by security, as well as players from both team, either trying to calm things down, or increase them. Shelina, on the other hand, is focused on Becky. 

"Damn it !" she exclaims, looking at the defender's leg. She then looks around her, and when she sees an astonished Megan Oyster near the sideline, she yells : "A little help here please !" Once Megan has arrived, overwhelmed with the events, Shelina grabs her arm and says : "She needs to exit the field before the fight becomes bigger, got it ?"

"G-got it" Megan stammers, before pulling it together. 

As Shelina is getting on her feet, Megan makes weird sign on the bench's direction. Of course Kelsey is busy separating Ash and Hope, who really are fighting, while the rest of the Bruins bench got into the fight, trying to calm things down. But when Julie realizes that Becky actually is in danger, she spots her boyfriend on the stands, as well as Zola and JJ Watt. The three boys jump on the pitch as well, helping them out. 

They manage to move Becky to the sideline, far away from the fight. Then, the boys go in, trying to separate people. The stands are yelling abuses at the UCLA players, as Jill is trying to calm her players down. 

Shelina puts her hand on Becky's knee. The Bruins captain opens her eyes, that are filled with painful tears. The brunette looks down at her, shaking her head. 

"I am so, so sorry." she says in a low voice, before checking her knee. "Before you blame me, I had no idea Carli intended to start a fight. Believe me on that one please." she quickly adds, before Megan comes back with a doctor and Julie. 

When the Stanford defender gets up, the blonde looks at her. 

"Thanks for saving her ass" Julie says in a cold tone, still grateful. 

"I owed her more than one" Shelina says, thoughtful. 

Before the Bruins defender can say anything, Shelina jogs back to her own bench, as her teammates are starting a talk. Julie recognizes Henderson, Sullivan and Flemming, who basically are the only cool gals on that team.

Once Tobin is separated from Carli, who is overacting, the referee stops the game.

The consequences will be devastating for the Bruins.

*

Becky severely injured.  
Tobin suspended.  
Ash suspended.   
No sanctions on Stanford further than a yellow on Lloyd for the tackle.

This afternoon, the team is silent in front of speechless Jill. After Allie explained the whole situation to her, the head coach only sat down. The room fall into silence after Tobin and Ash apologized to their team.

Nobody here blame them, tho. They all know how protective Tobin can be, and also how Ash always stands up for her teammates. Every single girl on this team know what it takes, and they also appear to know that this coming month will be hard.

The team is set to face USC and Harvard in two weeks ; two games in one week, without three key players. They all know it doesn't look good. Even Becky, who has her head down : she got hurt and needs two months to recover, unless a miracle happens.

The head coach claps in her hands, which wakes up everybody.

"I know this is hard, but I know this group of girls I have in front of me are fighters, warriors. I mean, we have freaking Kelsey Wyss as a backup goalie !" The whole team cracks a smile, before applauding Kelsey, as both Ash and Jane give her high gives. "And our back line ?" Jill continues, getting up. "Our defenders are capable of creating the surprise, and Allie can switch position to add depth ! I'm not even concerned on the midfield now that we have Moe!" The girls cheer once again. "We will get through this, girls."

Kelley suddenly gets up.

"Coach's right you guys !" she exclaims in what feels like a roar. She then looks at the girls in front of her and says : "We might have lost the game because of the fights, and lost points, but we can bounce back ! As your captain -until Broon comes back of course - I order you to bounce back UP !"

Most of the girls cheer, but Becky is just lost in her thoughts. Julie, who isn't far from her, gently taps her back, a shy smile on.

As the girls are talking in small groups, the blonde says :

"You should talk to her" As Becky is looking at her as if she told her she was about to transition into a man or break up with Zach, Julie adds : "That Stanford defender, I mean."

"Why would I-"

"I know she's _the_ _on_e, Becky. The look on her eyes when you were tackled, and then in the middle of this fight, face on the ground... Eyes don't lie." Julie continues. "That girl really loves you. Don't let her go because of some stupid rivalry."

Becky lowers her voice when she hisses :

"You know it's not just a _stupid_ _rivalry_, Julie. It's our team - _my_ team. I can't have her, because it would mean betray the team, and more specifically Ash and Kelley. They would never forgive me."

Julie nods, before saying :

"They don't have to know".

"JJ..."

"You and that girl are protecting each other, even though you broke contact with her." Julie goes on, ignoring her captain, her voice still lowered. "There is something beyond special about you two. Maybe you think she has used you. Maybe she has, maybe not. But I know you want to clear things out with her, because you care about her."

There is a long silence, right after which Julie adds :

"Call her, text her, whatever. But don't hurt yourself more than you already are."

Noticing that the room is slowly becoming quiet, Becky looks away from her teammate, trying to stop thinking about this stupid request from Julie.

Now, everyone is paying attention at Kelley again, who is looking into Becky's directing when she says :

"Becky, I wanted you to know the whole campus is behind you, and this team. I also wanted to thank you for being such a great captain under every circumstances : you always sacrifice everything for that team, and it's what makes you such a great captain. We will make you proud, I promise."

The captain's heart shatters, only because she knows it's not entirely true. 

"C'mon girls, I want to see you kick some asses. Be focused on the coming weeks, and we will still have our shot at the championship !"

The girls do the hoodle, before going to class. 


	11. New Arrivals

After the game, Tobin wasn't in the team's reunion. 

She got Allie to drive her straight at Laure's dorm. What one of he Stanford girl said on the pitch pissed her off big time : they sent some people to Laure. Fortunately enough, Tobin kind of knew nothing bad would happen to her because those people are not stupid enough to hit on someone from UCLA during those trouble times. But the only thought of Laure being hurt is annoying Tobin. 

Once Allie's car disappear in the alley, Tobin sprints to the dorm, energetically hitting on the door. When Sabrina, Laure's roommate, opens the door, she frowns. 

"Tobin ? What are you doing here ?" the French girl asks. 

Tobin suddenly notices that she is in her volleyball gear. Quite confused, the midfielder looks at the room behind the girl and notices it's empty, apart from Sabrina's stuff everywhere. Tobin frowns. 

"Do you know where Laure is ?" she asks, worried. 

"Yeah, some girl came here and they left together to the cafeteria of the building right in front of here, you know, the Social Sciences one." Sab immediately answers, raising her eyebrow. "Is there something wrong ? I've heard about what happened at the game..."

"Everything's fine, but I need to find her" Tobin says, and before Sabrina can say anything, she adds : "Have a nice training."

With that said, the brunette just starts jogging to the building Sabrina pointed, still on her soccer shorts, with a cap on. When she arrives in the outside cafeteria, Tobin tenses up immediately. 

Laure is indeed here, and the girl that came by to pick her up is Alex Morgan. When she sports Tobin, the brunette intentionally caresses Laure's cheeks. The midfielder, who is so angry in the inside, starts breathing heavily : she knows Laure hates it when she loses control and punches people, and Alex is probably filling her on what happened at the game. Even though she doesn't know what the exact plan of the Stanford's girls is, Tobin knows it can't be good : they got her once today, by getting her suspended, and they are just keeping on going this way.

So the midfielder calmly walks toward them, and when Alex widely smiles at her, Laure turns around a little bit. When she realizes who it is, she suddenly tenses up, before getting up awkwardly. 

"T-Tobin" Laure stammers in her cute accent. 

"Yo" Tobin lets out, quite angry. She then looks down at Alex, who has her bitchy face on. "Alex, what are you doing here ?" 

"Well, since my restricting order from this campus got cancelled this afternoon - thanks to you, by the way - I decided to come by and see my old friend Laure" the forward says, smirking. 

Even though she absolutely hates her, Tobin has to admit she is a great actress, and also knows what Tobin's weaknesses are. 

"Am I interrupting something ?" the middy asks, staring Laure. 

"Uhm, n-no, we were just about to-"

"Order" Alex completes, smiling. "You should join us, Tobin."

"Your teammate purposely hurt my captain today, so don't think I will sit down with you" Tobin harshly says, her eyes firing daggers at the brunette. 

The French girl, on the other hand, looks rather confused. Alex, still glaring at Tobin, takes Laure's hand in her, before caressing it. Laure, who is a little surprised, has her mouth half-opened, looking at Tobin for a moment, before blushing. 

Alex isn't done yet : 

"Then you should leave my friend Laure and I have this coffee, Tobin" She then turns to face Laure, and adds : "Right, honey ?"

But Laure isn't paying attention to her. 

"Is it true you got on a fight today ?" she asks Tobin, a neutral facial expression on. 

The midfielder is very angry : of course Alex came here to take Laure away from her. That's the Stanford way of getting revenge, and now that UCLA acquired Moe's rights, the war is officially on. And they stroke pretty well, taking down three key players. Whoever is behind this - _Tobin's_ _bet_ _is__ on __either_ _Hope__, __Rampone__ or Lloyd_ \- and now attacking the girls in their personal lives. The middy can only sigh and shrug. 

She then turns around, after throwing an ultimate death glare at Alex. But after walking straight in front of her for several seconds, Tobin is caught up by Laure, who grabs her arm. There is confusion in her eyes. 

"You didn't answer the question" she insists. 

Tobin sighs once again. "It's true" she says, and the deception on Laure's eyes just hurts her immediately. "But they deserved it, those bitches-"

"They honestly don't look like bitches" Laure interrupts her. Of course she's looking at Alex, quite innocently. "You told me you had changed."

"I had, but-"

"I will go back to Alex now"

"You know she's the one involved in the first fight, right ?" Tobin says, angry.

"A fight Becky ordered, Tobin. Call me when you've calmed down."

With that said, she goes back to Alex, who is on her feet. As soon as the French is in front of her, the forward gives Tobin a piercing look, before grabbing the back of Laure's neck and kissing her with passion. 

Once the kiss is over and that Laure turns around, Tobin is gone. 

* 

The locker room falls silent, at Jill steps on the room. Her face is lightened, which means she finally has a good news. Only one week away from the games against USC and Harvard, the team is lacking in four players (two injured and two under suspension), which means they are missing two players to be 18, which is the minimal number. Obviously, they would've been disqualified for those two games, and it would mean stepping away from the final four a little bit more. 

As the tension is growing, Jill says : 

"Ladies, you can now relax because two payers just arrived from Europe this morning to help us out" 

There is immediately a lighter atmosphere, as everybody sigh in relief. The girls then clap their hands, as Dawn comes in as well. 

"One comes from _Humboldt __Universität_ \- _auf_ _Deutsch__ bitte _!/in German please ! - in Berlin, and the other made the trip from the University of Oslo, in Norway." the assistant coach settles, exchanging a proud look with Jill, before the two women starts laughing. "They are here for the remaining of the school year in exchange, so I count on you to welcome them in style !"

"Without further due, here are our two new recruits : forward Ada Hegerberg, and midfielder Dzsenifer Marozsán !"

Julie's face immediately freezes when she hears the second name. She tries to hide it, as the two girls are making an entrance.

{**A/N : ****so****, I ****hope****you****guys****know****them****. If not, ****here's****what****they**** look ****like**** :**

**They're****both****playing****in**** OL ****and**** are ****in****my**** top ten favorite ****European****players****, ****in****the**** top ****of****the****list****to****be****honest****. Ada, 24, ****is****one****of****the****leading****goalscorer****in****the****French****League****, ****while****Maro****, 27, ****is****already****captain****of**** Germany ****and****better****than**** Lloyd ****tbh****. If ****you****guys****watched****the****ShBelieves****Cup****, ****you****might**** have ****noticed****how****precious****she****is****, ****and****also****how****everyone**** love ****her**.}

The blonde, who is quite obviously the Norwegian, since they like all have blonde hair in those countries in the North, immediately looks like a dork. Her bright smile and childish eyes immediately makes the girls want to know her. 

And when she opens her mouth, everybody listen :

"Hey, I'm Ada, sorry if I throw weird expression at your face. Not my fault, I'm Norwegian"

That makes Kelley rolling her eyes and say : "She already speaks better English than I do".

Kling, who is sitting in between the brunette and Julie, bursts into laughter, before the other girls follow. But the younger defender, on the other hand, is not laughing. Her eyes are locked on the German, who obviously isn't as comfortable with people as Ada is. The tall brunette throws a nervous but calm look at the assembly, before taking a deep breath. 

When her eyes fall on Julie, her eyes lighten. As the two girls are exchanging a rather long look, their teammates are staring at them, confused. Kelley even rely on Kling to watch Julie, who has her mouth wide open. 

As the silence becomes pretty insisting, Ada awkwardly coughs, which makes the assembly laugh once again. Without her eyes leaving Julie, the German says : 

"I'm Maro, nice to meet y'all."

Once Julie is avoiding her gaze, the midfielder awkwardly steps to the side. She obviously hates being the center of attention. Kelley exchanges a look with Becky, who seems as confused about the looks between her pupil and the newcomer. _There_ _is_ _no_ _doubt_ _they_ _know_ _each_ _other_, Becky thinks to herself. 

Ash, who is sitting next to Allie, decides to break the awkwardness by saying : 

"I like your tattoos dude"

The girls indeed realize she has her whole left arm tattooed, and the right one has some as well. The German smiles. 

"Thanks, yours are pretty cool too."

After Jill ask the two newcomers to sit down, and that both Ada and Maro have found space in a couch, the head coach looks at her team. 

"Now that we are all here, I wanted to talk to you about the games we have coming up next week." she says, looking around her. Of course Becky, Abby, Tobin and Ash are disappointed and jealous because they can't play them, but their eyes express nothing but confidence. Jill looks at her assistant coach, before saying : "Dawn and I talked about what would be the most effective way of doing things, and we came up with a busy schedule to get y'all ready for the hard week ahead. Dawn ?"

The blonde advances, a big smile on her face. 

"We will train every day early in the morning and then in the end of the afternoon, except for Wednesday, where we only will have the morning session. As far as the rest of the day is concerned, you are free to do whatever you want, but..."

"Obviously there always is a but" Kristie sarcastically says, rolling her eyes. 

"... But you will be forced to spend it with someone from the team. To create the pairings, I prepared a box with your names written on a piece of paper. The first 9 girls from the right here will start picking papers up. Kristie, you're first."

The blonde rolls her eyes, before putting her hand on the box Dawn is handing to her. Once she gets a paper out of it, she unfolds it, before smirking. 

"Gibby." 

The younger girl rolls her eyes, before realizing that Kristie is quite satisfied with the pick. 

_This_ _is__ not __going_ _to_ _be__ fun_, Gibby thinks to herself, especially after remembering that Wednesday is only two days away. Right after Dawn and Jill send them on the pitch, Gibby purposely waits to be the last person on the locker room, tying her cleats. When she sees Kristie coming back, she immediately grins. This past month, right before the disastrous game in Stanford soil, the two girls have been playing cat and mouse, especially with the cold glares and goofy faces. Not that they've become friends, because either Kristie or Gibby are not the kind to do so, but they're reached out a common agreement to get along. 

When the blonde throws some sort of newspaper in Gibby's face, the defender groans, before taking a look at the paper. Her face then tenses up.

"There's no way I am going to a museum with you" she harshly says. 

Kristie bursts into laughter. "Oh, honey, we are stucked together all Wednesday long, so you better deal with it. We are going to the museum."

"But..."

The blonde is already gone, smirking. Once Gibby takes the newspaper in hands, she realizes there is an entry pass, with a phone number written in it. _Only_ _Mewis_, Gibby thinks to herself, before putting the ticket in her bag. 

\-------------------------------  
**_Here's_****_ a _****_little_****_summary_****_of_****_what_****_the_****_team_****_ looks _****_like_****_. Thanks for reading _****_and_****_commenting_****_like_****_you_****_ do, _****_it's_****_very_****_encouraging_****_. _**


	12. A Reunions and a Secret Meeting

"Julie, wait !"

_Dear God, please be kind and don't let her get around for too long because it would be just too much in two days_, the blonde thinks to herself, before stopping her energetic walk and turn around. 

Immediately afterwards, I roll my eyes. 

"What is it, Kelley ?"

The brunette looks at her, smirking. Julie immediately knows this conversation is going to be all about the intense looks exchange that occurred earlier, and that everybody from the team has seen. 

"Oh, I don't know" the squirrel innocently says, raising her arms in front of Julie's face. The defender gives her a friendly tap, before walking toward the building where she has her next class. But Kelley is not the type to drop things. "You're the one acting like you don't know a girl after basically eye-fucking her"

Julie winced, before shaking her head. 

"What are you even talking about ?" she says, obviously annoyed by Kelley's reasoning. "Why would I be 'eye-fucking' a stranger while being so in love with my _boyfriend_, uhn ?" she lets out, insisting on the last word.

Kelley frowns. "Then why did you look at her for so long ?" she asks, curious. 

"She looks like someone I've known, so I was confused, that's it." the defender says, even though she knows every little word she says to get rid of her teammate is a lie. "Now I need to go and actually study, so bye Kelley."

"Bye... for now" the brunette mutters. 

Even though Julie pretty well knows that Kelley is going to dig into this because she always wants to know everything about everyone, the defender feels relieved : she pushed away the doubts for now. But only as far as the terrace in front of here, because Maro is sitting on a table, staring at her. 

The defender gathers all her courage and confidentially walks toward the German, who is not looking away. Never. 

Julie's heart stops beating when the brunette smiles at her. When she then gets up and that Julie can see all of her tattoos, the blonde shakes her head, before biting her lips. _You gotta have control in yourself, JJ. This is not high school anymore_. But when she looks at the tall girl in front of her, there is nothing old about that. _Doesn't feel like two years have gone by, _the blonde thinks, before pulling it together. 

The German is just waiting for her to talk first, but since Julie looks frozen, she starts in a very light accent : 

"You look beautiful, Julie."

"W-what a-are you-uhnnnnn, d-doing h-here ?" the defender stammers, before realizing Maro is frowning. "I-In the US, I m-mean." 

Maro smirks, before taking a step forward. 

"I got a call from your headmaster, inviting me to spend a year abroad. You know how much I like adventures, I couldn't say no" the German settles, and the only sound of her voice causes Julie to have to deal with growing butterflies in her stomach. "Furthermore, I knew you'd be here."

"UCLA h-has always been my d-dream, indeed" the blonde says, trying to ignore the blush taking over her face. 

But Maro doesn't miss that, and when she puts a lock of hair behind Julie's ear, before feeling the blonde tensing up, she says : 

"You haven't changed much" After a small silence, during which Julie feels like she is falling into pieces, she adds : "You still are gorgeous."

"A-and with Z-Zach" Julie quickly says, trying to compensate the lack of hair in her body with big gestures - _which, by the way, isn't helpful at all_.

That makes the German bursting into laughter, before she says in a very soft voice : 

"I know." Right after she said that, she slowly leans in. But instead of kissing the blonde - who is completely frozen and overwhelmed - Maro just kisses Julie's cheek, before taking a few steps backwards, a smile on her face. "And I respect your choice, even though I will always be waiting for you deep inside of me." 

"U-uhm" Julie stammers, her head obviously not working right now, as she is looking up - because of the obviously height difference - at the German, who smirks before walking away to go at her first class of the year. 

Once the German is out of sight, Julie relies on the wall in order not to fall, while the portion of skin where Maro's lips landed few seconds ago is burning. 

"Woah" a voice says behind Julie. When the defender turns around and sees Janine, with who she has some courses together, she sighs. "What was_ that_ all about ?"

"Nothing, and you haven't seen anything, got it ?" 

"That didn't look like nothing tho..."

"I'm not gay, Janine" Julie insists, trying to look tough. 

Janine bursts into laughter, before exclaiming : "Well that sure looked very, _very _gay to me though." When the brunette realizes how the other girl is throwing daggers at her, she suddenly rolls her eyes and adds : "Fine, let's pretend it was nothing", she starts, before coughing and using another voice texture to say : "Even though we both know it was the gayest thing I've seen after Steby"

"What the fuck is 'Steby'?" Julie asks, confused. 

"Steph and Abby." the Canadian quickly says, before rolling her eyes at the blonde. "Whatever, Linds came up with it." 

"You guys are weird."

"And you, my dear, are gay for the German" Janine settles. 

Julie finds nothing more to do than kick her ass with her foot, as the brunette is escaping from her. The defender was quite happy to see Janine didn't insist and hasn't made any comment for the remaining of the day, even at training when Maro was ignoring her. 

_This is not going to be fine_, Julie thinks to herself, forcing her eyes to unlock from where they've been willing to go. 

*

Her cap hiding her face, Becky knocks on the dorm's door. 

When the doors finally opens after several seconds, the captain doesn't wait a single second to come in and close the door behind her. She can't have anyone seeing her in the Stanford campus, and most importantly at one of the player's dorm. Once inside, she removes her cap and turns around to face the girl in front of her, who obviously is angry because she has her arms crossed on her chest. 

But her eyes are happy to see Becky. 

"What the hell are you doing here ?" Shelina asks, walking toward the other player, absolutely nervous. She then starts walking in circles, her hands on her waist, throwing killer looks at Becky from time to time. She then says : "You can't be seen here, you know that ! Furthermore, we have not business together anymore, you were the one shutting me out and-"

"And I came here to apologize." 

After interrupting the brunette, Becky takes several steps closer to her, but Shelina walks backwards in order not to stand too near from her. 

"I don't want to hear your apology, Rebecca." she harshly says. 

Immediately after saying that, Becky realizes how hurt the defender is. Her special eyes are filled with a weird feeling, probably between hate, fear and confusion. A feeling Becky knows way too well, because she felt the exact same way after their last talk. 

As Shelina pretends that she doesn't want Becky to come closer, her body language tells the Bruin otherwise. 

"The whole situation is making me crazy, Shel" the captain whispers, before sitting on the girl's bed, her face buried in her hand. "I love my team, and I need to be a great captain... But then, there's you." 

"Me ?" 

"Yes, you."

The girl's blue eyes are teary, as she looks up at Shelina. The brunette immediately feels terrified and starts walking in circles again.

"Y-you can't just shut me out, and then come back, only to throw me away once more !" she exclaims, raising her voice. "That's not fair ! Maybe I deserve to suffer, but I am so tired of hating you, on pretending that you are not hurting me, that I don't miss you..." 

"Shel-"

"I know you're into a position you can't refuse or forget, even for me. I know that very well, Becky, I've figured. So why did you come today ? To torture me ? To make me pay because of what the other girls from my team are doing to yours ?" 

Becky slowly gets up, before staring straight into the brunette's eyes. 

"I'm not-" she tries to say, but the Canadian isn't done :

"Then why are you here ? Why can't you just let me forget you ? Is it because I saved your ass at the game and you don't want to admit it ? What is it, Becky ? Pride ? Pity ? I don't need any of this ! I'm tired, I was on my knees, I was... so in love with you, and still am. But we can't have each other, we-"

"I love you." 

Shelina sighs. 

"This is not helping in any way, and you know it. Now you're just gonna kiss me, and then what ? Leave in a hurry ? Run away from me ?"

Becky opens her arms and closes her eyes. 

"Slap me if you want." the captain says, frowning. "I deserve it, for everything that I've done to you." 

"N-no, I-"

"Do it."

Shelina walks toward her, hesitant, before her hand finds Becky's cheek. 

She then repeats that action twice, before suddenly stopping, as her facial expression changes. She is crying, but her eyes are not. She grabs Becky's waist and violently pulls her closer, trapping her lips with her own, attacking them with fierce and passion, and also despair. Becky has to open her eyes to verify this is not a dream, and when she realizes Shelina's are closed and that the girl asks for permission, Becky grants her before wrapping her arms against the girl's neck, touching her hair in the process. 

After a few seconds, Becky slowly leads her to the bed, before they both fall on it, the Canadian on top of her. Her eyes show hesitation for a few seconds, before she starts kissing Becky again, and her hands are untying Becky's jeans. 

Once those are removed, Shelina slips her hand under Becky's panties, and starts doing her thing, that thing she does so well. Becky groans, biting Shelina's lips, as hr brown hair are falling on her face. Their smell bring back the memories, and Becky kisses her with more passion, with devotion. With something that feels like love. After a few minutes, Becky's body is done with convulsing, and Shelina takes her hand back. After licking her fingers with a defying look, she stares at Becky. 

She then closes her eyes. 

"Shit." 

When she tries to get up, Becky reverses the situation and finds herself on top of the girl, who starts crying again. 

"Shelina, I swear we will work this out" the captain whispers. Her lips then find their way to the brunette's neck, and between two soft kisses, she continues : "Why does it feel so right if it's wrong ?" 

Shelina closes her eyes. "I-I don't know." After a few deep breaths, she adds : "Fuck it, fuck me Becky."

She doesn't have to repeat it twice. At that very moment, Becky knows her life is going to get a lot more complicated. 

_But she is so worth it_, she thinks to herself, before kissing the girl she's loved for so long now. 


	13. Mentally Stressed

"We need someone in the inside" Ash settles, her eyes wandering on the girls sitting around the table. 

Kelley shakes her head : "We don't need to drag our standards down to theirs, guys" she says in a rather serious voice. 

"Yeah, but think about it" the goalie insists, serious as fuck. "They dragged Becky to the ground, made sure Tobin and I get suspended. We are obliged to play their game, and beat them at it."

"They're not dumb, Ash" Allie says, rolling her eyes. "Plus, shouldn't we wait for Becky before creating calculatingly intellectual plans ?"

"She hasn't been answering her phone in the past three hours" Kelsey says. 

That makes Ash gain more and more confidence, as her mind is running 100%, even though Allie and Kelley remains skeptical. 

"Becky already does enough for that team guys" the short-haired says, focused on what she wants to say. "We can do this on our own. Don't you want to see those Stanford bitches get down from their freaking cloud ?" 

"Of course, but-" Kelley starts. 

"Then, hear me out." the goalie says, determined. "We target one of their young player, get them to tell us what their plans are, so that we can protect our own"

"Guys" Rose interrupts them. 

All eyes are now and her, as she blushes a little bit. 

_Why the fuck did you talk ? Couldn't you just keep your damn mouth shut ? Now you have to explain your idea PLUS reveal them your worse teenage/high school mistake. What a stupid girl you are Rose Lavelle, _the rookie thinks to herself. While she is lost in her thoughts, the girls in front of her are confused : first of all, she appeared out of nowhere ; second, she is a freshman that has no business to do in an older girls committee, especially since they are talking about framing someone. 

Nevertheless, the girls are now listening to her, curious. 

"We are all ears" Allie says, raising her eyebrow. 

"I may have slept with one of the Stanford rookies while in high school" Rose blurts out, closing her eyes. 

"You WHAT ?" Kelley exclaims, before bursting out into laughter. "This is the best fucking gossip day ever !"

"Kels, shut up" Ash orders, getting up. "Rose, who ?"

"Uhm, well, first of all, what you must know is that we were drunk, and that I was dating someone she knows u-uhm..."

"Speak" Allie orders, out of patience. 

Rose takes a deep breath, before dropping the bomb : 

"Kailen Sheridan."

All she hears is Kelley bursting into laughter. 

_Oh my God, if Gibby and Jane learn about that_... Rose thinks to herself, immediately regretting to say that. Because the three roommates were in the same high school, in two different classes, while Kailen was on another one. But the thing Rose is the most ashamed is not to have slept with Kailen at a party while they both were drunk... It's that, at the time, she was dating Kailen's sister, Marina, who is one year younger. 

Basically, if Gibby and Jane one day learn about that, they'd kick their best friend's ass right away. 

"This is definitely a_ great _day" Kelley lets out, dying out of laughter. 

"You are just a wonderful person, Kels, that's why" Rose lets out, rolling her eyes. 

"Oh, what's with the sarcasm ?" 

"I'm 120 pounds of pale skin and fragile bones, okay ? Sarcasm is my only defense" the rookie exclaims, raising her hands in the air.

Allie and Ash both throw them a death glare, before going back to a pretty nervous Rose. Then, the two girls' faces lighten. 

"This is perfect" the middy lets out, absolutely delighted. "Does she like you ?"

"I-I don't really know... might ?" Rose says, before adding : "The thing is, we never had the after-sex talk, so she just denied everything, before blocking me in every social media she owned, including Snapchat. So..."

"But you still have her number, right ?" Kelley insists. 

"Yes, but-"

"Text her. And then we'll know."

Rose sighs, before sending : **_hey, i really think we should talk. tell me if you can meet up_**. She puts her phone down, before getting on her feet again. 

"I'll keep you guys updated if she on day answers, but I doubt it because-"

Right after the last word she pronounces, Rose's phone rings, and the young girl tenses up. As her teammates are all gathered around of her, looking above her shoulder, she reads Kailen's text with her eyes wide open :

**_no. i'm finally happy with someone, don't come and screw everything up once again._**

Maybe Rose would've liked it better if Kailen never answered... Because now her teammates are just laughing at her, and forced to find another plan.

* 

Gibby is rolling her eyes so much that they seem to disappear behind her head. 

The museum is almost empty, as she had to dress up nicely. Kristie is here as well, in a beautiful red dress that matches her nails and her lipstick. The worse thing about that dress is obviously that it highlights the blonde's body, which is pretty amazing. Gibby, on the other hand, has always had trouble with her self-confidence, and opted for a pretty simple dark blue dress that also suits her. 

When Kristie turns around, she can't help but check the slightly smaller girl out, biting her lips. The defender, who obviously is not as comfortable as she always is, starts rolling her eyes again, pulling it together. 

"This shit looks like a freaking date" Gibby lets out, bitter. 

"Well" Kristie says, before giving a small tap on the edge of the brunette's nose. She then smirks, saying : "Maybe it indeed is a date." 

"'Team bonding', they said" the younger girl says, mumbling. "Not 'try and seduce your teammate'"

"Is it working ?"

"Hell no."

Kristie bursts into laughter, before taking Gibby's arm and walk her through the exhibition. The other girl has no choice but follow her, paying low attention to the 'masterpieces' around her, because she thinks art is bullshit. 

The blonde, on the other hand, is quite flirty and confident. Her hand sometimes slips on the hollow of Gibby's back, as she opens the door for her guest, explaining some pieces when Gibby frowns too much. 

In other words, Kristie is trying to hide the fact that something in Gibby makes her highly nervous. 

"You're pretty silent for a girl with loudmouth" the brunette teases her, while looking at a painting illustrating two people kissing (_but, since it's art, it's weird, and we don't really see right away that they're kissing. More like copulating _(Gibby's thoughts)).

"Shut up, Giblet"

That makes the defender smile. 

The past month has been a roller-coaster of emotions for the rookie, and that one evening on the roof of the training center, where Kristie found her crying, changed everything. The two girls talked, shared personal things, and the blonde was surprised how much she already cared about a stranger.

Gibby stares at her, and since Kristie's eyes are locked on the piece in front of them, she gives her a hit with her shoulder. The blonde then looks down at her, before her eyes fall on Gibby's lips. 

The brunette, who has caught that, awkwardly coughs, before saying :

"Uhm, this might sound awkward" she starts, before closing her eyes and shake her head. "Never mind, forget it."

"No, tell me ?" Kristie asks, raising her eyebrow. 

"Well, now is not a great timing with everything's going on with the team and so on, but that would have been a romantic moment right now" Gibby says. 

The blonde can't help but look down at her lips again, as they're shoulder to shoulders. She then smirks. 

"Definitely would have" she says in a low voice. 

She slowly leans in, as Gibby's eyes have made their way on Kristie's lips. Her eyes quickly winks, before she restrains the blonde from kissing her. 

"The team" Gibby whispers, nervous. 

"Just a taste..." Kristie answers in the same tone. 

She softly puts her lips on Gibby's, and the world suddenly isn't the same anymore. 

Kristie would never have think to have feelings for someone as innocent, nice and cute as the defender. Everything in her is attracting : her mind, her face, the way she laughs, giggles, smirks, makes fun of her all the time. But most importantly, the way she can see through the walls Kristie has built to protect herself, those walls that make her seem so unbearable, cold and bitchy. 

Soon, her hand slips on the hollow of Gibby's back, as both girls are still facing the artwork with their bodies when the brunette takes the initiative in breaking the kiss. Their faces remain quite close, eyes in eyes, for a while, until Gibby looks at the artwork again. 

"W-what, uhm, what does that one mean ?" she stammers, trying to get away from an awkward situation. 

Kristie smirks. "Attraction between two souls."

"Of course" Gibby sarcastically lets out.

*

Julie starts loosing it. 

She grabs Maro's arm in the middle of a training session, while few people are watching, dragging her in a quiet corner. She is very upset and need to talk about the things that are making her that angry. The German girl, on the other hand, is quite chill and calm. 

"Can you please stop doing that ?"

"Doing what ?" Maro asks, confused. 

"Doing... _that_" Julie says, awkwardly gesturing around the girl. "Looking at me, trying to get near me... I don't know,_ that_. I am with Zach, okay ? I love him, h-he makes me happy and stuff, so please, stop, I-"

"JJ, we're on the same team. How am I supposed to pass you the ball if I don't see where you are positioned on the field first ?" the German asks, smirking. 

This whole situation looks pretty goofy to her, which annoys Julie even more.

"Well, find another way ! Zach is my boyfriend, and-"

"Why are you always bringing him up, when the only problem here is you ?" Maro asks, not very happy with the image Julie is giving her (aka the image of girl that tries to seduce a girl that already is part of a couple). "I said I respected your choice, since you seem to be so sure he's the one for you."

"He is !"

"Then why are you psychotic and delusional ?" she insists, staring straight into Julie's eyes. "Is it because you know Zach is not the only one in your mind right now ?"

"God, stop !" Julie yells. 

Their teammates stops playing and look at them, before Julie fakes a laugh, and that they all think the two girls are just laughing about something. But as soon as the attention is far away from them, Julie's eyes get darker. 

Her tone is very cold when she says : 

"Things between us ended before they even started, got it ?" 

Maro smirks. "If you say so, _Jules_." 

Julie, who hasn't head that nickname since high school, is too shocked to say anything, as the midfielder runs back to her position on the field, shaking her head. The blonde knows the German is pissed. 

And the worst part is that she actually cares. 


	14. Not All Bad

Megan wakes up early this morning. 

She immediately feels the two strong arms around her, as her head is resting on the other girl's thorax. Their relationship never has been easy, especially since after all that has been happening lately. But they somehow make it work, not making too many promises, or even be officials or anything. There's just 'us', and then the rest matters more than anything. In this conflicted atmosphere, Megan is happy to have the girl by her side to calm her down. 

As the sun is slowly rising, Megan caresses her arm, her fingers touching every part of the tattoo that relies on the other girl's arm. She then lifts her chin, in order to reach the girl's neck, leaving a few kisses. As the only answer, the brunette hugs her tighter, slightly groaning because she never likes getting up early. 

The defender smirks. 

"Kailen"

The goalkeeper opens her eyes, before closing them again. _Too__early__ for __her_, Megan thinks to herself, smirking, as she softly caresses the girl's jaw. 

To be honest, the first time Megan met Kailen, she thought she was a bitch. Now that she knows her better, she knows she was right : there is nobody as sassy, mean and cold as she is, but her qualities somehow are making up for it. For example, the fact that the brunette is overprotective with her, caring, possessive and also selfless, makes Megan fall for her more and more every minute they spend together. Maybe it isn't love yet, but it's pretty close from it. 

After a few minutes, Megan straightens a little bit, kissing Kailen's jaw again. The brunette smiles, her hand slipping on the hollow of the blonde's back. 

"I thought you had practice this morning" Kailen says, hiding her face with one of her hand, while the other remains in that position. 

Megan smirks. "It got cancelled because of the rain." she settles, before getting closer to the Canadian, who looks down at her lips. "Do you want me to leave because you're fed up with me ?"

That only makes the goalie smirk, before she pulls Megan closer and kiss her. As their lips are moving together, there is a knock on the door. 

Either girl has to say a single word to know what they have to do. Megan is a smart girl : she knows that, since she's in Kailen's dorm, in Stanford, and that her roommate spends her time with her boyfriend, she has to hide because it's probably one of Kailen's teammates. Megan hurries to put something on, before disappearing under the bed, since there is a big cover on it. Kailen hides her, before getting dressed as well and open the door. 

Megan only hears footsteps, but she immediately knows there are two people more than Kailen and her, at least. 

"I need to talk to you" a voice Megan doesn't recognize says. 

"What do you want, Sam ?" Kailen asks, bitchy. "You know I don't do early mornings."

The blonde sighs, before saying : 

"The seniors are up to something"

"What do you mean ?"

Another voice rises, and Megan immediately recognizes Melissa Henderson, because that girl has come quite often in UCLA to visit her boyfriend. She was supposed to become a Bruin, but then her dad got sick and she had to chose Stanford in order to stay close to him. With Kailen, Melissa is one of the only people Megan doesn't despise. 

Melissa says : 

"Hope called a part-team meeting as we speak. I only know that her, Carli, Jess and Cap are about to come up with something to penalize UCLA so that we're sure to advance to the final without them in the final four"

"Woah, that's..." Kailen starts, knowing very well that Megan is here and listening. 

"Stupid !" both Melissa and Sam exclaim in the same time. 

"Even thought we haven't cheated last year, we deserved the punishment" Sam then says, and Megan can hear her sit on the bed. She holds her breath back, as Kailen puts some music to make her feel safer. The middy sighs. "I don't understand why they are trying to play it dirty, especially since we're a good team !"

There is a small silence, before Melissa breaks it : 

"Furthermore, Shel and Kop have tried to plead against that idea, but they just threatened them. I mean, they're pushing it too far, but they remains our teammates."

"Why does Shelina always speaks up against them tho ?" Kailen asks, confused. 

"Well, she's too valuable of a player to be kicked out of the team" Sam settles, before adding : "Plus, she is the next one in line to be the team's captain when Hope, Car, Jess and Cap will retire"

Silence again. 

"But" Kailen says, trying to hide her nervousness. "Do you know what they are planning ?"

Melissa must've shaken her head or done something else, because Megan can hear the girls sighs. The blonde then says : 

"I heard they had something on Allie Long."

"Makes sense" Sam lets out, before explaining : "They're attacking UCLA's most valuable players. 

"We are attacking them, Sammy" Melissa says in a sad voice. "We're part of that team too."

"I never thought it would turn out like this, to be honest" MewTwo settles, her voice saddening a little bit. 

After that, Kailen argues that she needs to get ready for training, so her two teammates walk out of the dorm. 

As soon as the door closes, Megan get away from the bed, walking around the apartment looking for her clothes. Kailen watches her doing so, arms crossed against her chest. The goalie looks fed up. 

"Where are you going ?" she asks, nervous. 

"I gotta warn Al" Megan says, before looking up at the girl. "Do you know where my panties are ?"

"Uhm, on the ground here" Kailen says, pointing out the Sponge Bob panties. She then shakes her head, following the blonde with her eyes. "And you know you can't warn her, right ? Because they'll start wondering how you know that."

"I can just say I heard a rumor" Megan lets out, hurrying to get ready. After the room remains silent for a while, she looks up at Kailen, who looks a little bit terrified. The blonde, after grabbing her bag and jacket, wraps her arms around Kailen's neck, kissing her jawline again (because of the obvious height difference). "Don't worry, they will never find out about us. As long as you keep the secret, I will too."

The goalie sighs. 

"Fine."

"So, I see you on Sunday ?" Megan asks, pecking the girl's lips. 

Kailen rolls her eyes. "Sure, _princess_."

"Stop calling me that !" the blonde says, grinning.

The brunette shrugs. 

"Suits you perfectly" she argues, smirking. 

"See you, dork" Megan says, before pecking Kailen's lips a final time. 

The defender knows it is her duty to protect her own, even though it is quite risky because the team might find out about her weird relationship with Kailen.  
  


*

"We need to find a way to beat them at their own game" 

Ash is walking in circles, like she's been for the past ten minutes or so. 

Part of the team is gathered in the locker room - some players are missing because of exams they have to take on - trying to process the bomb Megan just dropped. Maybe the goalkeeper looks the most angry about the situation, but Tobin is swallowing her harsh words because she knows it wouldn't help. The current situation is quite frustrating to her : first they stole Laure from her, and now they're trying to bring her best friend, her _almost__sister_, Allie. But since she is already suspended and doesn't want to aggravate her cause, she remains silent. Silence is also the new prerogative of Kelsey, Julie, Lindsey and Maro. 

But Lindsey, on the other hand, immediately reacts :

"They can't take Allie too" the forward settles, annoyed. 

"Linds" the midfielder tries to calm her down, because she knows how quickly the younger girl can lose it. 

"Looms, I'm not letting them ruin you as well" Lindsey insists, fierce. "We need to find a way to stop them from taking everything away from us." 

"They hurt us, we hurt them" Ash simplifies.

"That's not a good way of doing things" Julie argues, setting her jaw. 

"Sure, JJ, we should just watch them prevent us from getting to the finals, what an outstanding idea" Kristie sarcastically lets out, rolling her eyes. 

Janine gives her a bow in the ribs. Maro, who doesn't understand much about the whole situation, just listens, as Ash is losing it little by little. Kristie looks at Julie, an apologizing look in her eyes. 

The blonde only nods, before saying : 

"Yeah, but shouldn't we be smarter than that ?" 

"Not necessarily smarter" Becky says, and all eyes are now on her. "But more subtle ? Definitely. I think I've got an idea."  
  


* 

Once the meeting is over, Kristie takes her phone out of her pocket, looking for the contact's number. 

"Hey" she says as soon as the person picks the phone up. "Are you okay ?"

"Yes, yes, I'm good" Sam answers in a quiet voice, as if she is scared someone might hear her. As soon as she hears her sister's voice, Kristie feels better. "What about you ? Did something happen ?"

"I'm good, Sammy"

There is a small silence, before the younger sister says : 

"You know, I should've warned you sooner, I know, but I think my team is planning something against-"

"Allie, I know" Kristie interrupts her. She then smiles a little bit. "But thanks for taking the initiative in telling me. It means a lot."

"It makes me sick to have lost my friends because of what university I chose" Sam says, and her voice immediately changes in something more sad.

Kristie sighs. 

"Look" she starts, trying to find the right words. "Abby has been thinking a lot about texting you because she misses her friend. Plus, don't worry about Steph, she will recover and come around, maybe sooner than you think. You know how Hoodrat is."

The younger girl chuckles. 

"I hope you're right" she says. Then, she seems to remember something interesting, because she says : "So, people say you have found a new girl ?"

Kristie frowns. "Who told you that ?" she coldly asks. 

"Nobody, but thanks, you just did" Sam says, smirking. 

The blonde starts laughing, because this time Sammy got her. That makes her remember the good old days, when Steph and the two sisters would laugh like that all day long, pissing their parents off. 

Kristie shakes her head. 

"Do you know what they planned on Allie ?" she asks, trying to change the subject. 

She can easily imagine her sister smirk, but since the new subject is very important, Sam decided not to insist on her sister's new love interest, as she says : 

"I don't know much, honestly. But I know it has something to do with her past, before she came to UCLA"

"Mmh" Kristie lets out, thoughtful. 

"Oh" Sam adds, as if she just remembered an important detail. "They also mentioned what Becky did to disqualify us last year. I don't know much more for now, but you should also investigate, because nobody wants to tell us what your captain did."

"Okay, thanks Sammy. I will see you soon, okay ?" 

"Sure. Love you."

"Love you, MewTwo" Kristie says, before hanging off the phone. 

Once she's put it in her pocket again, she realizes she's already reached the building in which she has a meeting with someone. She comes in, before immediately head to the main gymnastics hall, that is hosting the women's volleyball team, who is practicing for an important game tomorrow. 

Kristie immediately spots Laure, who is giving instructions to her teammates, before noticing her presence and jog toward her. 

"Hey, what's up ?" the French asks. 

The soccer girl immediately notices the dark circles under Laure's eyes, as well as how tired her face looks. 

"Just came by to give you this" Kristie says, handing Laure tickets. 

"What is this ?" the French asks, taking a look at the one ticket she has in hands. 

"Your chance to redeem yourself" the blonde lets out, mysterious. "See you around."

"See you" Laure manages to say before the blonde is gone. 

Once Kristie has exited the room, Laure takes another look at the ticket ; those are the entrance for the game the Bruins have against USC in four days, right before they travel to Harvard. The French girl sighs : here's her chance to talk to Tobin about what happened with Alex Morgan the other day. 

She puts the ticket in her bag, before jogging back to her teammates, who are waiting for her to start to play.   
  
  
  



	15. Spark Before It Catches Fire

**GAME DAY 3 vs USC**

_ **After game** _

** _Final score : 6-2 / Goalscorers : Hegerberg (x3), Horan (x2) & Pugh._ **   
  


Right after the game is over, Kelley runs toward the stands. 

"Are you even real ?" she yells, out of her mind. 

Sitting right here are Carli Lloyd, Christie Rampone and Alex Morgan, their bitch faces on, not willing to show if they're impressed. Right after the current captain's words left her mouth with echo, the Bruins supporters, who have been going on from minute one of the game, start booing the Stanford players. 

Kelsey joins the brunette, who is boiling in the inside. 

"Good afternoon, Kelley" Carli says in a sassy tone, unimpressed. She then waves at the rest of the team, proud of herself, before adding : "You guys played great today. Maybe enjoy winning while you still can."

"What does that even mean ?" Kelley hisses. 

The girl feels Kelsey's appraising hand on her shoulder, before the GK silently faces the three girls, who are all raising their eyebrows. 

After a few seconds - while the Bruins supporters are chanting anti-Stanford chants, trying to get near the three players probably to make them exit the facility - Carli leans closer and whispers in a rather bitchy voice : 

"I wouldn't count on Allie after this game. I mean, something might happen to her after this week, so your next game after Harvard will be highly compromised. And having Marozsán with you won't change anything."

"Is that a threat ?" Kelley asks. 

Carli smirks. "Depends on how seriously you take it." she says, before adding : "Allie might lose a leg or something, so, break a leg !"

Her teammates start laughing, before Kelsey stares at Alex with a disgusted look, and fires : 

"Maybe you should close that mouth for once, we know how many boys you're sucking every time you go out without your boyfriend" she says, dead serious. As Alex's face changes a little bit, the goalie adds : "Would be stupid that our dear Carrasco hears about that, right ? Or..." she continues, before getting her phone out of her pocket to unlock the screen and show it to Alex. The Stanford players have similar reaction to this picture. "Or show him you like big black cocks."

"Where did you-"

"Touch Allie and Servando will have a nice gift." Kelsey clearly threatens, only inches away from the forward. "Wouldn't be good for you relationship, right ? Especially since he's already cheating on your dirty ass with some other girls... Right ?"

As Alex is about to punch the goalie in the face, Christie restrains her from doing so by putting a hand on her arm. But the Stanford captain isn't happy about what just happened. So it is with a bitter tone that she says : 

"Fine, you got us on that one" Rampone settles, eye-killing the girls. "But you might want to be careful, because a sex tape picture is not the only thing we have against you." 

The three girls start walking away, as Kelley turns on Kelsey, shocked. 

"Wait, where did you get that ?" she asks, confused. 

Kelsey smirks. "The power of Photoshop, my friend." she then says, as Kelley bursts into laughter, giving the girl a high five. Then, Kelsey smirks again and adds : "Now we know that bitch really is cheating on her boyfriend, otherwise she would've just denied it."

"Well played. Damn, you're good."

"I know, I'm a queen." 

The two girls go back to their teammates, a big smile on their faces. Nobody dares to ask them why it is for, but when they do the team hoodle, and that Kelley explains to them Kelsey's move, they all burst into laughter. 

For most of them, it made their day.  
  


*

After spending her afternoon avoiding Laure or cheering on her teammates while ignoring the Stanford girls that came to try and scare them off, Tobin finally finds her way back to her dorm, where music and voices are already getting heard. She sigh, before opening the door. But what she finds inside surprises her. 

Allie, Kelsey and Maro are inside, around two computers on a table. There are a lot of paper around them, as well as law books. Tobin frowns as she closes the door behind her, but nobody pays attention to her. 

So she jumps in the conversation : 

"... maybe she payed someone to clear her ?" Allie says, raising her eyebrows. "Or maybe she blackmailed one of the cop or something. But there is no way she could've been proven innocent in this."

"If the federal judge knew her father, there is a way he could've influenced the final decision" Kelsey argues, focused on what she is reading. "Look, here, it says : '_every individual using a bladed weapon on another citizen is subject to a two-year school suspension, as well as restricting orders as long as he or she is not cleared by a psychologist_.' That might be it : if she slept with the psychologist she might have influenced his decision."

"It would make sense..." Maro starts, before sorting out a piece of paper from under the computer. From where she stands, Tobin only sees it's a picture. "... if only that picture didn't exist. Here is Hope Solo holding a knife, threatening her boyfriend. This is solid evidence, and could reverse things." 

The three girls suddenly look up at Tobin, who is approaching them, her mouth wide open. She takes the picture between her hands, before a smile is drawn on her face ; the picture indeed shows Hope - her face facing the camera - with an angry face, and Jerramy with both hands raised in the air. 

The middy looks at the German, beyond happy. 

"Does that mean we can use that against her ?" she asks, excited. 

"Absolutely" Maro confirms, but her face suddenly becomes serious again. "But if they know it comes from someone in UCLA, they will investigate further and might find something about you guys."

Kelsey frowns. "Does that mean we use anonymity ? Like, we send it to the cops, so that they will investigate on Solo, an we, on the other hand, are safe." 

"Wait" Allie says, looking down. "This might be compromised."

"How so ?" Maro asks, confused. 

The blonde middy shakes her head, before saying : 

"Because Hope could bring up the fact that Becky, Kelley and Ash helped her come away with a deadly car crash during their freshman year"

The atmosphere suddenly tenses up. Kelsey, who knew something pretty bad happened, never dared to ask why nobody wanted to talk about the very event. She knew Hope got on a car crash, killed an old man in his car by crashing against it with her own, and didn't go to jail for it, even though she already was 18. 

Now, this might come in the way. But Maro doesn't really look worried, because she says : 

"Unless she really wants to spend her entire life in jail, she won't say anything"

"True" Allie mumbles, not very sure of that one. "Are you sure ?"

"Of course, I'm a law student." Maro lets out, rolling her eyes. 

Tobin's excitement is back. 

"Then, let's drag that bitch to the ground. It's time we make them pay for the suspensions and the threats." she says, smiling. "Furthermore, once Hope is out of the picture, it will be easier to make Becky's plan work."

The four girls nod, before Allie goes and tries to find an envelop in this mess that Tobin and her call their room.   
  


*

Out of breath, Becky lets herself fall back on the bed, an huge grin on. Right next to her, Shelina is in the same state, getting them a cover before lying down right next to the blonde. After that, she leans in and kisses Becky's lips, before sitting down. 

The captain, who is not used in seeing the Canadian go away first, grabs her ponytail to pull her back down on the mattress. The brunette smirks, before finding her way in Becky's open arms. She then smiles. 

"I have to study, love" Shelina reluctantly lets out, before abruptly getting away from Becky's embrace. 

She then puts the volume on, as the TV is showing Hope's face. The journalist, who is right in front of one of the Stanford dorm, is looking straight at the screen when he says : '_This morning, the local police received an anonymous picture to re-open a case that has been shut down after freshman Hope Solo had been cleared because of the lack of evidence the police held against her. The young woman, now a senior, was involved in an aggression against her former boyfriend, Stanford Cardinals captain, where she almost stabbed him to death. Thanks to the piece of evidence the police now has in possession, Hope Solo will finally face a jury. In between now and the trial, she is suspended from the soccer team, for which she has been in goal for the past three years. No further information, as we assist to the arrest of Miss Solo._'. 

Becky also sits down, as Shelina's mouth is wide open : on the screen, they can see Hope being handled by two police officers, screaming, yelling things both at the camera and the people around her. The two defenders exchange a concerned look, before Shelina gets up and starts dressing up. 

Before she can turn around and say anything, Becky takes the lead : 

"I didn't know about that, and did not command anyone to spread the news."

Shelina nervously shakes her head. "And I don't know how I could believe that, given to the fact that your team wants revenge." she coldly says, as she puts her pants on.

But Becky is honest, and she needs the other girl to believe her. She gets up as well, after grabbing both of Shelina's shoulders, forcing her to look at her. 

"I swear on my mother's grave that I did not know anything about that picture, Shel." she repeats in a more confident tone this time. 

The Canadian stares at her, before rolling her eyes and getting away from her embrace. She then throws the dorm's keys at Becky, after putting her jacket on. 

"Whatever, I need to go check on my team" the brunette says, on her way to the exit.

Becky sighs. "Fine."

Right before she opens the door, Shelina turns around, before walking toward Becky, grabbing the back of her head and kiss her. 

"I believe you. But I need to be here for my team, because you and I both know a storm is coming." 

"Why do you-"

"Becks" Shelina interrupts her, frowning. "Don't do sweeping generalizations ; three or four members don't define the whole team. Most of the girls up there deserve to win because of the work they've put into the game. And I won't let three bitchy girls ruin it all."

Becky smiles. 

"You'd be a great captain."

Shelina smiles. "One day, maybe." she starts, before approaching the door again. She turns around, and smirks : "But for now I'm sleeping with the other team's captain, so I don't think they'd be happy to have me as a captain. Bye Becks."

"See you." 

Once Shelina is gone, Becky silently remains standing, looking around her. Something suddenly draws her attention : it has nothing to do with the picture of Shelina and her boyfriend Adam kissing, because she's seen them in real life, and has a boyfriend on her own, so she really don't really care. But the letter next to the lamp, on the other hand, is pretty interesting, especially since it comes from the soccer team staff. 

Becky shamelessly opens the envelope and reads the letter :   
  


_Dear Shelina, _

_We have heard about the recent events occurring on the team, and demand you to please remain silent about it. We do believe this team can achieve a lot of things, and even though we don't like the way it is done, we have to admit it actually works. In order to honor the gracious amount of money put into that team, we highly recommend you to drop your amateur investigation on Christie Rampone. _

_We hope you understand and wish you, dear Shelina, a nice semester._

_The Stanford Sports Committee_

Becky frowns : Shelina obviously knows something she doesn't. 


End file.
